Bengaluru’s railway upgrade: From congestion to connectivity

Bengaluru: Spread over 1,144 route kilometres, Bengaluru is an important, fully electrified railway division focused mainly on passenger operations. 

The South Western Railway (SWR) has undertaken various projects to upgrade the city’s railway infrastructure. These include the high-profile Bengaluru Circular Railway, station modernisation, track doubling and quadrupling, and the ambitious but long-delayed suburban railway project. 

While some of these projects have made considerable progress, some are moving at a snail’s pace or have nearly stalled. 

In a freewheeling interaction with DH, the SWR’s top-ranking official, General Manager Mukul Saran Mathur, shed light on these projects, their current status, the challenges hindering progress and the way forward. 

How far has station modernisation progressed? 

Of the city’s four terminals, KSR Bengaluru is heavily overutilised, while SMVT Bengaluru and Bengaluru Cantonment remain largely underutilised. 

Yeshwantpur and Bengaluru Cantonment are undergoing redevelopment, and work will be completed soon. There is also a plan to modernise KSR Bengaluru and expand its capacity. Two major yard remodelling works have been sanctioned: 

Firstly, operational flexibility has been eased through signalling arrangements for reception and dispatch of trains, as part of the yard remodelling executed by the Gati Shakti Unit (GSU). 

There will be two additional platforms on the Yeshwantpur grid to handle more trains. We will repurpose a part of the MG Railway Colony and relocate some buildings. The project may see the axing of nearly 200 full-grown trees, and we will take the necessary approvals. 

However, connecting the Yeshwantpur grid to the Cantonment grid is not feasible due to land acquisition and reduction in CSL of Rd-10. (CSL, or Clear Sight Line, is the unobstructed distance a loco pilot can see ahead on a track).

The KSR Bengaluru redevelopment will be carried out by RLDA (Rail Land Development Authority). It will monetise land parcels, enhance passenger amenities and improve connectivity to the station. Modalities are being finalised. 

Bengaluru Cantonment has eight platforms. Are there any plans to operate more trains from there? 

Most of these eight platforms are dead end platforms, meaning trains cannot run through them. A pitline is being built for Vande Bharat train maintenance. We will prefer to run more of these trains from Bengaluru Cantonment. 

A new maintenance depot at Thanisandra will make Vande Bharat rakes available for the SWR, and we will be able to introduce more trains. 

Is the plan to build a new coaching terminal in Devanahalli still on track? 

A meeting held on June 5, 2025, decided that the proposal for a new coaching terminal at Devanahalli is unsuitable due to its distance from the main Bengaluru area and other factors. We may build the terminal but what’s the point if nobody uses it? 

Instead, we are exploring establishing a new terminal and/or maintenance facility at Yelahanka. Two conceptual plans — one involving complete relocation of the Rail Wheel Factory (RWF) and another retaining it — have been prepared and are under review. 

The Cantonment-Whitefield quadrupling has taken a long time to complete. Why ?

The project faced delays due to land acquisition, which is a challenging thing in dense urban situations. At some places, we also had to make changes due to the Bengaluru Suburban Railway Project (BSRP). The work is now on track. The Cantonment-Baiyappanahalli section will be quadrupled by December and the entire section by March 2026. 

What is the SWR doing to reduce travel time from Bengaluru to major cities? 

We’re increasing speed limits to least 100 kmph across the SWR network. The sectional speed on the Bengaluru-Jolarpettai line has been increased to 130 kmph. However, reducing the overall travel time depends very much on platform availability at stations. We’re working on that. The Bengaluru-Mumbai route may benefit from this. 

What is the progress on the Bengaluru Circular Railway? 

A Detailed Project Report (DPR) is being prepared for building a 240-km circular railway around Bengaluru in the following nodes: 

n Nidavanda-Doddaballapur-Devanahalli-Malur: 96 km

n Malur-Anekal Road-Hejjalla: 98 km

n Hejjala-Solur-Nidavanda: 46 km

The project, estimated to cost Rs 81,000 crore at current prices, is proposed to be fully funded by the government of India. 

The DPR would consider present and future traffic potential and other factors. Steps would be taken to avoid inhabited areas, heritage/monuments/religious structures and waterbodies. 

There was a proposal to build a 
7.9-km line from Dodjala to the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) with three new stations via a rail-over-rail (RoR) flyover. Will it see the light of day? 

We held a meeting with the airport authorities to discuss the proposal. They suggested connecting the line to the future Terminal 3. However, our studies showed the line would not fulfill traffic requirements. The project has not been sanctioned. 

The BSRP has been painfully slow. L&T Ltd has terminated the contract for two lines. As a key stakeholder in the project, what’s your take on this? 

The BSRP is not directly under our purview. We are a funding agency and give technical clearances. We don’t intervene in day-to-day operations, but we keep reviewing the progress. 

The railways was informed of L&T terminating the contract only recently, despite the company having served notice months earlier. Such clauses for unilateral termination are not available in the contract. The contractor’s claim that land was not made available is untrue. 

On Corridor 2, 21 km is clearly available, with 4 km pending due to private land acquisition, which is the state government’s responsibility. On Corridor 4, 25 km has been made available. We are working to remove encroachments from the leased railway land. 

Physical progress is 28% on Corridor 2 and 6% on Corridor 4. As of August 25, the overall progress is 18.5%, with expenditure of Rs 1,992.90 crore. 

Will K-RIDE, the project implemention agency, get a dedicated managing director? 

The process to appoint a dedicated MD has been finalised and will need clearance from the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC).