New railway infrastructure will not benefit commuters immediately

27th Divisional Railway Users’ Consultative Committee meeting held

No scope: The Divisional Railway Consultative Committee meeting in Mysuru on Tuesday was told that Mysuru station was saturated and there was no possibility ofi the ntroduction of additional trains.

Will a slew of railway infrastructure work including the completion of track doubling work and the projected completion of the track electrification between Mysuru and Bengaluru bring no tangible benefits to the commuters in the immediate future?

If the reply to the queries raised during the 27th Divisional Railway Users’ Consultative Committee meeting held on Tuesday is any indication, the wait for full benefits to manifest from these works will last for a few more years.

Approval awaited

This is because the introduction of additional services hinges on the decongestion of Mysuru station for which the Kadakola station has to be developed as the second terminal. However, the plan is yet to be approved by the Railway Board and fresh efforts are on to get it cleared. In reply to a question raised by Vasu, MLA, on new trains between the two cities on completion of the track doubling work, the reply presented no hope for immediate relief.

It was pointed out that Mysuru Junction with six lines did not have the capacity to handle the existing traffic and was saturated. Besides, there is was no scope for any expansion of the yard since the station is surrounded by built up area and no land could be further acquired.

In order to decongest Mysuru, it has been proposed to develop a satellite terminal at Kadakola on the Mysuru-Chamarajanagar section with six lines, two pit lines, two stabling lines, shunting next for 700 metres and other facilities at a cost of ₹63.45 crore.

The authorities hope that with the completion of these facilities, the division can handle more trains. But the proposal is yet to be cleared and is with the Railway Board and a high-level committee has been constituted to study the same.

By extending the scope of the reply, it could also mean that consequent to the completion of the track electrification work between the two cities by June or latest by July, no new electric trains will ply between the two cities to ease passenger movement.

This is the result after nearly 10 years of public pressure and spending of more than ₹1,000 crore in creating the infrastructure.

Meanwhile, sources explained that there was a possibility of running a Diesel Electric Multiple Unit (DEMU) train with only 8 to 10 coaches between Mysuru and Bengaluru till the new rakes are ready. But the issue is why aren’t the rakes ready as the scheduled completion of the project was known ?

With regard to the Mysuru-Kushalnagar railway line project, it was pointed out that only the physical survey has been completed and the report was under preparation.

Other amenities

The members of the Committee spoke of the need for provision of additional amenities such as drinking water facility, better quality approach roads, extension of platform shelters, additional seating arrangements, better mechanism for ensuring safety of passengers’ belongings in overnight trains, and more.

Atul Gupta, Divisional Railway Manager, P. Ram, Additional DRM, and others were present.