Work on the sub-urban rail project for the city, which is projected to bring much needed relief from traffic snarls, will begin in May, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah announced on Sunday. He was speaking at a function to flag off the first train between Chikkabanavara and Hassan attended by Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu.
The function, which was attended by supporters of the #ChukuBukuBeku campaign, saw several slogans being shouted in support of the sub-urban rail project. While most of them welcomed the announcement, a few chose to highlight the fact that the Union Government's contribution to the project was not announced in the budget. In February, the State Cabinet had given its assent to the Detailed Project Report for 440 km of sub-urban rail and had sanctioned Rs. 345 crore for the first phase.
New train
A new train between Hassan and Chikkabanavara (167 km) was flagged off on Sunday from the Yesvantpur railway station. This comes 21 years after former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda had sanctioned the Bengaluru-Hassan project. The line will also help cut down on travel time between Bengaluru and Mangaluru.
“A direct train between Bengaluru-Mangaluru will cut down travel time by 4 hours. This overnight train will be started soon,” said Mr. Prabhu, while flagging off the train. He also said that the train would be named keeping in mind requests made by leaders. “We will give an appropriate name which will reflect Karnataka's pride,” he said.
Earlier, Mr. Gowda had suggested that the train between Bengaluru and Hassan be named Hemavathi, between Bengaluru and Mangaluru be named Gomateshwara and between Bengaluru-Arsikere-Mangaluru be named Kalabhairaveshwara.
Other facilities launched
Mr. Prabhu also remotely inaugurated passenger amenities at several stations. Three lifts and an escalator were inaugurated at Yesvantpur station, a passenger subway and two lifts at the Mysuru Road station and a dedicated high speed WiFi facility at the Yesvantpur, KSR Bengaluru and Mysuru railway stations.
