BENGALURU: In the face of Bengaluru suffering the ignominy of being ranked the most traffic-congested city in the world by an international organisation recently, the green signal given for the 148.17-km dedicated Suburban Rail Project in the Union budget, 37 years after it was proposed, offers hope of relief from the current situation.
But rail activists who staged massive campaigns over the years are not willing to accept that the city will finally have it. The reason: despite a similar announcement in the 2018-2019 budget, the project did not take off.
The Rs 18,621-crore project aims at covering four corridors:
Krantivira Sangolli Rayanna (Bengaluru City)-Yesvantpur-Yelahanka-Devanahalli-Kempe Gowda International Airport (41.4 km)
Baiyappanahalli-Banaswadi-Lottegehalli-Whitefield-Yesvantpur-Chikkabanavara (25.01 km)
Kengeri-Cantonment-Whitefield (35.52 km)
Heelalige-Baiyappanahalli-Channasandra-Yelahanka-Rajanakunte (46.24 km).
The Airport route would be given priority in the project.
Both the state government and the Centre will bear 20 per cent each of the cost of the project and the remaining 60 per cent will be raised through loans by their joint special purpose vehicle K-RIDE, with both the parties expected to bear the repayment responsibility. The approval from the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) is now seen as a mere formality with Bengaluru Central MP PC Mohan stating that clearances would be completed within a month.
Senior rail officials stated that as the announcement is made in the budget, such an approval is no longer necessary. A senior railway official said, "As we had specified, it will take us six years to complete the project from the date of sanction. By 2026, Bengaluru will have a fully operational suburban rail network."
A couple of officials are a bit sceptical though, and felt that 2030 is a likely possibility as land acquisition is yet to be started.
However, contrary to the public brouhaha about even minor news about the suburban rail earlier, the general response was negative this time around. However, Minister of State for Railways Suresh C Angadi strongly asserted that it would happen this time around claiming that the BJP government both in the state and at the Centre would ensure it happens unlike what happened two years ago with a different party at the helm in Karnataka.
The minimum fare is likely to be Rs 13 unlike in the case of local trains in Mumbai and Chennai where it is Rs 5. "You cannot compare those cities which got an excellent local train service long ago. After the new Suburban Policy has been announced, Bengaluru is the first suburban rail system to be announced. In the future, all suburban networks across the country will base their fare structure on this," said a senior rail official.