BENGALURU: The usual boisterous and enthusiastic response from rail activists and public transport experts was missing after the announcement of the suburban railway in Bengaluru in the Union budget on Saturday.
They bemoan the lack of clarity on deadline, process and progress.
However, Minister of State for Railways Suresh C Angadi insists that the project is for real this time around.
TNIE caught up with a few rail activists. Srinivas Alavilli, co-founder of Citizens for Bengaluru, which launched the popular ‘Chukubuku Beku’ rail campaign.
“Until the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) clears it, this is a meaningless exercise. A similar announcement was made by former Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on February 1, 2018.”
Said Angadi, “The situation is completely different this time. When the Centre announced it two years ago, the Congress government backtracked, fearing PM would take credit for it. Now we have a BJP both at the Centre and state.”