Bengaluru suburban rail: How will Cantonment-Whitefield section be connected?

Bengaluru: The alignment of the Bengaluru Suburban Railway Project’s Corridor 3 has been approved, but there is no clarity on how the Cantonment-Whitefield section will be connected. 

Also called the Parijatha Line, the 35.52-km Corridor 3 was originally planned to connect Kengeri and Whitefield via KSR Bengaluru and Cantonment.

However, the Detailed Project Report (DPR) examined only the 18.47-km Kengeri-Cantonment stretch and proposed separate tracks. Of this, 10.4 km will be elevated and 8.07 km at-grade, with four elevated and five at-grade stations. 

The remaining 17.05-km Cantonment-Whitefield section was excluded due to Indian Railways’ ongoing quadrupling (four-laning) works. The DPR warned that limited land availability would make it difficult to build dedicated suburban tracks and suggested sharing two Indian Railway lines instead to run suburban services to Whitefield. 

At Cantonment, suburban lines merge into the quadrupling section at km: 349/700. 

While the South Western Railway (SWR) has approved the alignment, it has left out the Cantonment-Whitefield section. 

Railway Infrastructure Development Company Karnataka (K-RIDE), the implementing agency, has favoured sharing Indian Railway tracks beyond Cantonment and changing the signalling system to address interoperability
issues. 

While Indian Railways uses automatic block signalling, BSRP trains will operate on the Communication Based Train Control (CBTC) system. 

“We plan to run end-to-end train services between Kengeri and Whitefield. At Cantonment, we will switch off CBTC and operate on automatic signalling, so passengers won’t have to deboard,” a senior K-RIDE official explained. 

Railway officials, however, support terminating suburban services at Cantonment and operating MEMU trains for onward travel to Whitefield, which would require passengers to deboard. 

“The alignment has been approved as per the DPR. Beyond Cantonment, not much land is available after quadrupling,” Ashutosh Kumar Singh, Divisional Railway Manager, Bengaluru, told DH, adding that the quadrupling project would be completed by December 2026. 

Citing signalling differences, another senior railway official said operating MEMU services between Cantonment and Whitefield was the most feasible option. 

At Cantonment, the SWR has built a suburban terminal with five dead-end platforms and as many stabling lines. The BSRP’s elevated station will be located slightly away from this terminal along a curved alignment and connected by a foot overbridge. 

K-RIDE Managing Director Lakshman Singh said a final decision on the Cantonment-Whitefield connectivity would be taken after technical evaluation. 

“We will decide once detailed design drawings are prepared,” he said. “Land assessment for the Kengeri-Cantonment section is under way and tenders will be called soon. Corridor 3’s deadline is March 2030.” 

Minister of State for Railways V Somanna said alignments of all four BSPR corridors had been approved, but flagged slow progress. "Despite our efforts, the project has not moved much in the last three years. The state should cooperate," he told DH. 

Corridor 3 is often seen by planners as the “least important” as it overlaps the metro’s Purple Line at several locations. 

The DPR also flagged physical constraints along its alignment, including rail overbridges at Deepanjali Nagar and Goripalya, the metro alignment beyond Nayandahalli, and temples at three locations along the tracks, which limit space for erecting viaduct columns.