BENGALURU: The South Western Railway (SWR) Zone has been allocated Rs 7,329 crore in the budget. The allocation for Karnataka (which includes SWR along with Bidar, Raichur and Kalaburagi) stands at Rs 7,524 crore.
Briefing the media through a video conference from New Delhi, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said, “The average annual outlay between 2009 and 2014 was Rs 835 crore per annum compared to the budget outlay of Rs 7,329 crore in 2024.” The allocation in recent years is nine times that of the past. SWR received Rs 9,200 crore in 2023-2024 while it received Rs 6,900 crore during 2022-2023.
A huge thrust has been laid on infrastructure with Rs 2,286 crore for new lines and Rs 1,531 crore for track doubling. Passenger amenities have been earmarked Rs 987 crore.
An official release from South Western Railway said, “All major stations are being redeveloped. The redevelopment work has commenced at Bengaluru Cantonment and Yesvantpur stations already.”
Under the Amrit Bharat Stations Scheme, 48 stations in SWR have been taken up for redevelopment.
To ensure safety, Rs 341 crore have been earmarked for Road Over Bridge and Road Under Bridge works. For faster execution of projects, all future works will be 100 per cent funded either by the Railway or state government. The allocation for traffic works is Rs 126.11 crore and that for the survey of the new lines/ doubling/quadrupling projects is Rs 22 crore for SWR.