Bengaluru may get 33-km new rail line from Hejjala to Heelalige

Bengaluru may get a new railway line connecting the city’s southeast to its southwest.

The railway board has approved a Preliminary Engineering cum Traffic (PET) survey for the 33-km railway line between Heelalige and Hejjala.

Heelalige is a small train station on the Baiyappanahalli-Hosur line while the Hejjala station is located on the Bengaluru-Mysuru line.

The new line will help people travelling from southern and southeastern areas such as Electronics City to the western and southwestern suburbs such as Kengeri. Presently, travellers have to go through the KSR Bengaluru station.

The survey will cost Rs 16.5 lakh and might take several months.

The South Western Railway (SWR) is in the process of calling tenders to pick the agency for conducting the survey.

Aneesh Hegde, Chief Public Relations Officer, SWR, said the survey would look into whether the new line was technically and financially feasible. The new line is expected to boost capacity in the Bengaluru railway division, he added.

The survey report will be submitted to the Ministry of Railways, which will examine the feasibility and approve the line if it deems fit. The preparation of a Detailed Project Report (DPR) and a final location survey will come next, Hegde explained.

Bangalore South MP L S Tejasvi Surya hoped the line would “immensely benefit” in decongesting the KSR Bengaluru railway station, the busiest in Karnataka.

According to Surya, the survey for the Heelalige-Hejjala line was aimed at creating a new alignment for the Anekal-Bidadi railway line in order to protect settlements and environments around the Bannerghatta National Park.

Railway activist Sanjeev Dyamannavar disagreed that the new line would significantly reduce the burden on KSR Bengaluru train station. According to him, the new line, which would take a minimum of 10 years to see the light of day, would help inbound trains from Kerala and Tamil Nadu bypass KSR Bengaluru railway station. However, the main problem at KSR Bengaluru is something else, he added.

Dyamannavar said the railways should reduce the gradient and curvature from KSR Bengaluru to Kengeri and build four railway tracks on that stretch. Additionally, all platforms at KSR Bengaluru should be at the same level. Boosting capacity at Yeshwantpur Junction is another to-do thing. “The main issue is reducing the travel time from KSR Bengaluru to Kengeri. The new line might not help it,” he said.