Here is some good news for Bengalureans, who have been hoping to get a suburban rail on the lines of the one in Mumbai. The State government and Railway Ministry on Friday sorted out the hurdles that came in the way of the two decade-old ambitious project.
At a meeting jointly chaired by Railway Minister Piyush Goyal and Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy in Bengaluru, the State and Centre arrived at a consensus to expedite the project.
Speaking after the meeting, Mr. Goyal said the Railways has agreed to give land worth ₹6,000 crore on a token lease of ₹1 for the project. “The land will be given on a token lease of ₹1, which is outside the suburban policy. I have to go back and change the suburban policy. So, it is actually free of charge,” the Minister said.
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According to an official release, this will reduce the cost of the project by about ₹6,700 crore (nearly 30%).
Pointing out that the State government had in January put 19 conditions for implementation of the project, the Union Minister said these conditions were acting as roadblocks. “However, all issues have been resolved now. We have (Centre) also changed the Suburban Railway policy amending the State and the Central funding from the ratio of 80:20 to 50:50,” he said.
“I am happy that the Chief Minister has agreed to the Railways’ proposal that it will be through-and-through 160 km line that we have planned. It will have 70 km of elevated rail line. There will be 12 inter-changes,” he explained.
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“The plan drawn up is of international standard. At some point there will be three levels. There will be road, metro and Railways. It is a world class project we are bringing to a world class city. The State Cabinet has to approve it now,” the Railway Minister said.
Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy said he was grateful for the speedy decisions taken by the Union Minister, said all issues had been sorted out now.
Pointing out that preliminary discussions on the project had started when H.D. Deve Gowda was the Prime Minister, Mr. Kumaraswamy said a sum of ₹400 had been set aside for the project in the State budget. “Today, it has taken a final shape,” he said.
The project had figured in the Union budget for the current fiscal and was approved by the State government. The feasibility study report was approved by Rail India Technical and Economic Service (RITES).
It is a ₹23,000 crore project, which is expected to be completed within six years from the time of approval by the State Government.
According to an official release, the State government has now agreed to share the cost of two line-doubling projects — Baiyappanahallli-Hosur and Yeshwantpur-Banaswadi-Hosur.
Vande Bharat Express
Mr. Goyal said the high-speed train Vande Bharat Express is likely to be introduced between Bengaluru and Chennai; and between Bengaluru and Mangaluru. Currently, a Vande Bharat Express runs between Delhi and Varanasi.