The state government will hold a meeting with the South Western Railway and all stakeholders on Saturday to discuss the final report on commuter rail system (CRS) that would connect Bangalore with its suburbs and adjoining districts.
The proposal for the 441- km railway network connecting Bangalore, Mandya, Tumkur, Kolar and Chikballapur districts was accepted a few months ago.
“We are proceeding with the next step of studying its feasibility and discussing the further action to be taken on the project with the stakeholders on Saturday,” said Manjula V, commissioner, Directorate of Urban Land Transport (DULT).
The proposed investment for the CRS is between `8,000 crore and `9,000 crore, and it is expected to handle around 2.
2 million passengers a day.
This project is expected to be cheaper than Metro (Phase 1), which would cost around `12,000 crore for 42.
3 km to serve about 1 million passengers daily.
Pranav Jha, founding member of www.
praja.
in, an NGO that pushed the project and also a stakeholder in the project, said the project was moving in the right direction and it would give quick reruns at a low investment for travelling within and outside the city.
Land Acquisition
Land is required for the construction of platforms, ticket counters, parking lots, commercial space, and feeder roads to new stations and bus stops.
Railway land available at the existing stations may be mostly sufficient to develop required facilities, but land may be needed to develop new railway stations.
There are about 64 halts planned along the 441-km CRS.
The CRS cannot serve the public meaningfully with single line, and hence all the sections of the CRS should be double lines and electrified, as diesel traction adds to the already polluted urban environment.
The Binny Mills lands is considered to be the prime point in linking the City Railway Station with the CRS.
The project cites that without that land, it would be difficult for the CRS to come into existence.
Hence, the project suggests two-level platforms as an alternative— one for long distance trains and the other for commuter trains.
However, this would mean an additional investment of `5,000 crore.