BENGALURU: The Bengaluru Railway Division has fixed February 15, 2021 as the tentative launch date for the much delayed Sir M Visvesvaraya Terminal Bengaluru (Baiyappanahalli Third Coaching Terminal), as per an internal note issued on Thursday by the senior divisional operations manager. The South Western Railway Zone has invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the event and they are awaiting a confirmation from the Prime Minister’s Office.
The South Western Railway Zone had recently sent a communique to the PMO through the Railway Ministry inviting the PM for the official launch of this project and to lay the foundation stone for the dedicated suburban rail project for the city.
The Rs 15,657-crore suburban project for Bengaluru was approved by the Centre on October 7 this year but has not been formally launched yet. The Rs 192-crore Visvesvaraya terminal too has suffered much delay with the Covid restrictions playing a major factor. “The terminal is set for launch with three platforms, a station building, ticketing area and other passenger amenities,” said a senior railway official.
“We are hoping the PM will launch both these projects. If that is not possible, then the railway minister will do the honours,” said another official. The specific number of trains that would be diverted to this terminal is yet to be finalised, he added.
Meanwhile, the Kempegowda International Airport Halt station, though ready, is yet to be launched. Though the divisional railway manager said that it would be launched last week, it was postponed due to the model code of conduct in place due to the gram panchayat elections. “The launch will now happen after December 30,” a source said.
Preparatory work for Metro Phase 3 begins
Bengaluru: Detailed Project Report for two corridors of Phase-3 will be prepared by consultancy firm RITES Limited. These corridors total a distance of 42km and cover JP Nagar to Hebbal (Corridor-1) along the Outer Ring Road (ORR West) and Toll gate (Hosahalli Metro Station) to Kadabagere (Corridor-2), BMRCL has stated in its annual report uploaded on its website. The DPR is expected to be ready by March 2021. Highlighting the progress made by different stretches in the 72.1 km Phase-II project, it said that up to September 2020, nearly 47% of physical progress has been made.
The report also said BMRCL had incurred a loss of Rs 170 crore from March 22 to August-end due to suspension of trains. This includes revenue from both fare and non-fare streams. For the financial year 2019-20, it said that the average total monthly revenue for the 11 month period up to February 2020, was Rs.36.87 crore. In March alone (due to operations closure in the last week), the revenue dipped to Rs 24.35 crore.