Govt to sign MoU for suburban rail tomorrow

The much-awaited suburban rail service is chugging to an early start as the state government will sign a memorandum of understanding with the Indian Railways on Monday.

Speaking to reporters on Saturday, Divisional Railway Manager, Bengaluru Division, Sanjiv Agarwal said that the memorandum will be inked in the presence of Union Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah here.

“The Union government has come up with a new set of regulations for the suburban rail project, which will form the basis for the MoU,” he said.

Also, the Mainline Electric Multiple Unit (MEMU) train would start trips between Bengaluru City Railway Station and Ramanagaram, Whitefield and Kuppam Stations from January 16, according to Railway officials. The railways minister would flag off these trains.

The MoU would mean better infrastructure for the city. The Centre’s draft suburban rail policy had put the onus of acquiring land on the respective state governments. An upgrade of the MEMU maintenance shed in Banaswadi is also on the agenda.