BENGALURU: Minister of State for Railways Suresh Angadi has assured introduction of trains from Shivamogga to Chennai and Tirupati at the earliest. This is in light of a request from Shivamogga MP B Y Raghavendra asking for the same.
Angadi along with the General Manager, South Western Railway, A K Singh, the Divisional Railway Manager A K Verma, K-RIDE MD Amit Garg and Chief Administrative Officer Constructions K C Swami made a courtesy call at the office of Chief Minister Yeddyurappa on Monday evening. Chief Secretary T M Vijay Bhaskar was also present.
After the 50-minute interaction, Angadi told The New Indian Express, “I have asked for the extension of the existing train from Shivamogga to Bengaluru upto Chennai and to run a new train from Shivamogga to Tirupati. Both these cities are yet to be connected from Shivamogga by rail.”
Asked about a time frame for it, the General Manager of SWR told The New Indian Express that he was holding discussions with his counterparts in Southern Railway and South Central Railway to facilitate the operations. “The pitline in Shivamogga too needs to be readied,” he said.
The implementation of another project related to Shivamogga, the new line between Shivamogga-Shikaripura-Ranebennur was also discussed. Swami said, “The need to expedite Cabinet approval for the Rs 975 crore project, which has already been included in the Railway Pink Book was stressed.”
NAGANAHALLI COACHING TERMINAL
The Railways has agreed to share the land acquisition cost for a Second coaching terminal for Mysuru at Naganahalli, he said. “The total land required for the project is 68 hectares and Railways wanted the State to bear the full cost but has now agreed to fund it on a 50: 50 basis,” Swami added. Mysuru was already choked and a second terminal was vital for the station, he added. The Constructions department also said that 17 Road Over Bridges and Road Under Bridges across the State could not be completed due to lack of availability of land to build approach roads to the bridges. Asked about the suburban rail project, Swami said, “It is yet to be approved by the expanded Railway Board. After the Board okays it, the project will next go to the Niti Aayog as well as the Ministry of Finance for approval. It will have to get the final approval from the Cabinet Committee of Economic Affairs.” The need to expedite the Bagalkot-Kudachi new rail line also figured in the meeting.