BENGALURU: Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal has asked top railway officials in the South Western Railway (SWR) Zone to run more suburban train services on the existing railway network in the Bengaluru Railway Division. He asked to speed up the proposed dedicated suburban railway project for the city.
Goyal, who arrived in Bengaluru on Tuesday to pay his respects to departed Union Minister Ananth Kumar, interacted with railway officials when travelling from Kempegowda International airport.
Ajay Kumar Singh, General Manager of SWR Zone, told The New Indian Express, “The Railway Minister was very keen that we speed up the suburban rail project for the city. He also wanted us to increase the number of suburban trains connecting Bengaluru and neighbouring areas.”
Asked about the routes where the additional services would be run, the GM said they would be identified shortly. “May be within two weeks or so from now, we can begin running the first of the additional suburban services. The number of services will be increased after that.”
Another top railway official present during the interaction said, “The minister wanted the feasibility report for the suburban network to be expedited.” The report, being prepared by consultancy firm Rail India Technical and Economic Service (RITES) was supposed to be ready by the end of October but will now be ready by the end of this month.
RITES is working out the feasibility for the proposed 142-km new suburban rail network, including 72 km of elevated corridor, out of the planned `17,000 crore 161-km network for the city.
Asked about the status of the suburban rail project, a top State government official said that the new share-holding pattern of the Karnataka Rail Infrastructure Development Enterprise, the Joint Venture between the State and the Central governments, would be formalised within a week. “The formation of the Special Purpose Vehicle will take place a couple of weeks after that,” he said.