Railways bets big on quadrupling lines from B’luru to nearby towns

Bengaluru: The railways has initiated the process to quadruple train lines between Bengaluru and nearby towns, including Mysuru, Tumakuru, Hosur and Bangarpet. 

Ashutosh Kumar Singh, Divisional Railway Manager (DRM), Bengaluru, shared the progress of various projects in Bengaluru at a press conference on Thursday. 

The Detailed Project Reports (DPR) for the Bengaluru-Tumakuru, Bengaluru-Mysuru and Bangarpet-Jolarpettai quadrupling projects will be submitted to the Railway Board between July and December this year, while the DPR for the Whitefield-Bangarpet quadrupling project, which was submitted in May, is being reviewed. The traffic report for Baiyappanahalli-Hosur quadrupling is likely to be submitted next month, he added. 

Quadrupling the Tumakuru line will cost Rs 3,500 crore, the Mysuru line Rs 6,850 crore and the Jolarpettai line Rs 3,600 crore. 

This comes at a time when there is much chatter about extending the metro or building the Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) to neighbouring towns. 

Other development works that are gaining steam after being sanctioned include the 19-km Bengaluru Cantonment-KR Puram-Whitefield quadrupling work with an estimated expenditure of Rs 492.8 crore, having reported a 75% progress in works. 

Seven road underbridges have been extended while three road overbridges have been completed. Earthwork progress stands at 3.85 lakh cubic metres and retaining wall 12.28 km. Twelve minor bridges have been extended, he said. 

At Bengaluru Cantonment, 2.25 lakh units of energy per month, which is roughly 72% of the total energy requirement for the station, will be generated through 1,852 KW of rooftop solar panels. The railways is also constructing a sewage treatment plant with a 600 kilo litres per day (KLD)
capacity. 

The south-side station building (6,822 square metres) is 70% complete and the north-side building (7,336 square metres) 29% complete. 

At Yeshwantpur, which is also undergoing redevelopment for Rs 377.86 crore, the linen and RPF buildings have been completed. The structure of the 6,000-sqm multi-level car parking facility has been completed and is getting finishing touches. 

Discussions with the metro authorities are ongoing to connect the metro and railway stations at Yeshwantpur by an FOB, while two additional platforms will be constructed at the KSR Bengaluru station at an approximate cost of Rs 222 crore. 

Doubling works on the Yeshwanthpur-Channasandra line (52% complete) and Baiyappanahalli-Hosur line (83%), and a new line from Marikuppam to Kuppam (15%) are ongoing projects, while land acquisition is underway for a bypass line connecting Bettahalasoor-Rajanukunte, Singh said.  

Final location surveys (FLS) have been sanctioned for the 288-km Bengaluru circular railway project, for which the DPR will likely be submitted to the Railway Board by August, the DRM said. 

Cut-off box - Faster trains to Hyderabad
The railways is focusing on increasing speed in all directions from Bengaluru. On the Bengaluru-Jolarpettai 23 daily and five weekly trains are already running at a top speed of 130 km the DRM noted. 
Travel times between Bengaluru and Hyderabad might see a reduction with the railways taking up works to increase speed to 130 km on the Dharmavaram route. 
The status of the Bengaluru Suburban Rail Project (BSRP) however has not seen any changes with the authorities maintaining that the alignment plans for corridor 1 are still being finalised and the land will be handed over soon.