The Preliminary Engineering-cum-Traffic (PET) survey of the Mysuru-Kushalnagar-Madikeri railway line will be completed during the current financial year, following which a report will be submitted to the Railway Board for clearance.
At present, the authorities are engaged in updating the PET survey report of Mysuru-Kushalnagar section, while the physical survey between Kushalnagar and Madikeri is in progress. This was stated at the 24th Divisional Railway Users Consultative Committee (DRUCC) meeting here on Tuesday.
In reply to a question on the status of the project, Divisional Railway Manager Rajkumar Lal said the PET for the new broad gauge line between Mysuru and Kushalnagar (84.5 km) via Hunsur and Periyapatna projected to cost Rs. 666 crore was submitted to the Railway Board in 2012. However, the rate of return (ROR) was 8 per cent so the project was not pursued.
But the State government agreed to provide land free of cost and bear 50 per cent of the project cost, after which the Board cleared the project. The revised ROR — taking into consideration only the Railway share — was pegged at 3.12 per cent, but was below the stipulated 5 per cent before any project is deemed commercially viable and accorded final approval.
But in view of the support extended to the project by the State government, the PET survey was being updated and the entire report would be submitted to the Railway Board in the current financial year, according to senior railway officials in the meeting. Earlier, only a partial PET survey was conducted and the 30-km stretch between Kushalnagar and Madikeri was not surveyed, but has been taken up now. The proposed railway project will also connect Hunsur and Periyapatna. The cost estimate for the stretch between Kushalnagar-Madikeri was yet to be prepared as the survey is in progress.
Stakeholders were also apprised of the progress of the Hassan-Bengaluru new broad gauge stretch slated for completion by March 2015.
