BENGALURU: Several politicians, including MPs Tejasvi Surya and P C Mohan, have recently come forward in support of the Suburban Railway project. Surya met Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant and Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal in New Delhi on Monday, and urged them to approve the project for Bengaluru during a crucial meeting. However, citizens want more.
The members of Bengaluru Suburban Rail Users, a citizens’ group which has been pushing for suburban railways in the city, started an online petition on Friday, which has gathered over 1,000 signatures already. The petition has requested immediate action using the existing infrastructure. “The government had announced a Rs 23,000 crore project for Bengaluru, which has now been reduced to Rs 19,000 crore. However, the current project is based on the creation of new infrastructure and requires land.
Hence, it will take anywhere between 7-10 years for it to materialise. Bengaluru requires immediate relief. Only a service launched immediately on the existing infrastructure can do that,” Sandeep Anirudhan, suburban rail activist and a core member of the group, told The New Indian Express.
The petition was launched in hope that the project will help decongest city’s traffic. “The existing infrastructure has low efficiency with just one train every three hours,” Anirudhan said. “We are saying don’t just spend money and use the existing infrastructure with just automated signalling, a control room and increase frequency,” he added. Divisional Railway Manager A K Varma was unavailable for comment.