Green signal for automatic signalling, to be ready by January ’19 

Chief Public Relations officer of SWR, E Vijaya confirmed the status of the project.
Project between Cantonment and Whitefield was put on hold  by South Western Railway
Project between Cantonment and Whitefield was put on hold by South Western Railway

BENGALURU : In a move that is expected to bring much cheer to railway commuters, be it suburban train users or long distance travellers, South Western Railway (SWR) will complete its automatic signalling project soon. The stretch between Cantonment and Whitefield was set to get automatic signalling system when it was sanctioned in this year's Railway budget. On October 27, CE had reported that the project was put on hold because of quadrapling, which was started on the same section, could result in cables for signalling being cut. This decision had not go down well with train commuters.

"SWR officials and the general manager were reconsidering whether the automatic signalling project should be carried or not. However, they decided to go ahead with it. 80 per cent of the work is done," said a railway official.

Chief Public Relations officer of SWR, E Vijaya confirmed the status of the project. "Automatic signalling work between Bengaluru Cantonment and Whitefield is going on in full swing. Major portion of work has been completed. Sanction from the Commissioner of Railway Safety has also been received. The target is to make it operational by the end of January 2019," Vijaya said.

Despite the `12 crore project being sanctioned in 2018-2019, it has seen much delay. 
Transport expert, Sanjeev Dyamannavar said, “This is good news. They can now run more services, and on time. It will have an impact on the Hosur and Channasandra line. For example, trains from Krantiveera Sangolli Rayanna station (Majestic) going towards Hosur through Baiyappanahalli, as well as, trains from Whitefield going to Yeshwathpur through Banaswadi will be speeded up."

In a response to Sanjeev's RTI filed last year, SWR said automatic signalling would be completed by September 2018. "The next deadline announced was December 2018, but as long as it gets done by January, it will be useful. Suburban rail commuters using MEMU services and long distance travellers on express trains will no longer have to suffer delays," Sanjeev added.

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