The South Western Railway has floated a tender to double the 48-km track between Baiyappanahalli and Hosur. The doubling of the line is very crucial as it enables railways to increase the efficiency of existing train services and the number of suburban trains on that route. The tender has been floated in four packages for earthwork in cutting, embankment and construction of minor bridges, and railway under bridges
This upgrade of existing infrastructure will come as a relief to lakhs of commuters working in IT corridors such as Electronics City, tech parks on ORR and Sarjapura Road and industrial areas in Jigani, Bommasandra, Attibele and other areas.
At present, people spend hours on the road, commuting to their offices and back home.
An official with SWR said the upgrade is crucial for building a suburban rail network in the city. “Currently, the Bengaluru -Hosur line is facing too much load. Trains passing through this section have to wait for over 25 minutes, thereby causing huge inconvenience to passenger. The doubling of track will help make train services more efficient and make them reliable on this section.”
Once the tender gets awarded, work likely to start in January next year. It will be completed in two years.
In addition to the Baiyappanahalli- Hosur section, the South Western Railway is also doubling the track between Yeshvanthpur and Channasandra (21.7 km). Both projects together will cost ₹546 crore.
Sanjeev Dyamannavar, transport expert advocating a robust suburban rail system in the city, said, “The Railways should have floated tenders for doubling the line between Yeshvanthpur to Channasandra along with Baiyappanahalli to Hosur sector. We have also been demanding additional stations at Doddanakundi, Munnekolala, Huskur Road, Chandapur, and KHB Layout Suryanagar. This should be considered while executing the project.”
He has demanded that the State government form an SPV to take up the suburban railway project without any further delay.
