As many as 29 stations have been dropped in the revised detailed project report (DPR) on the suburban rail network, which was submitted by the Rail India Technical and Economic Service (RITES) to the Railways on Monday.
The number of stations has come down from 82 to 53.
In May, the central government had directed the Rail Infrastructure Development Company (Karnataka) Limited to revise the DPR. The company was asked to consider the option of reducing the number of stations, avoid overlap of suburban rail with Namma Metro alignments in the city, and explore the possibility of extending the network to Ramanagara, Tumakuru, Doddaballapura and other nearby cities.
Sources in the Railways said that the revised DPR has also reduced certain sections proposed in the previous DPR. It reduced the cost of the project from the previous estimate of ₹19,000 crore to ₹16,000 crore.
A source in the Railways said, “The RITES has submitted a revised report to the SWR. The same will be submitted to the Rail Infrastructure Development Company (Karnataka) Limited, which will send the report to the Railway Board for clearance. There are certain revisions in the new report, like reducing the number of stations, minimising land acquisition, and bringing down the project cost. The Railway Board will take a final decision on the issue.”
As per the suburban rail network project, there is a proposal to build four corridors: Kengeri-Whitefield, KSR Bengaluru City-Rajanukunte , Nelamangala-Baiyappanahalli and Heelalige-Devenahalli.
The Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) had raised objections to certain sections of the network saying that they run parallel to metro lines. Sources said several stations have been dropped on the Nelamangala-Baiyappanahalli alignment.
In its letter, the central government had also asked the agency to consider implementing individual point-to-point projects through public-private partnership. Both the State government and the Union Ministry of Railways have been asked to facilitate PPP model by offering surplus land parcels, viability gap fund (VGF) and adopting revenue share models.
