Government apathy puts commuter rail on slow track

Bengaluru: Though the detailed project report on commuter rail and Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) for the city was prepared four months ago  the state government yet to provide its approval.

RITES Limited was entrusted with the work of preparing the report and now South Eastern Railway needs to give its feedback to Directorate of Urban Land Transport (DULT) who had commissioned the project. Thereafter the project will be forwarded to the State Government for approval. It will be then sent to the railway minister for his concurrence.

Sanjeev V. Dyamannavar, member of Praja RAAG and advocate of commuter rail, said, “Neither the DULT nor the state government have put pressure to move the project forward. It has been so many years that we have been fighting for commuter rail, but it has not reached anywhere.”

The commuter rail could be a major mode of transport in taking of the pressure off the roads and allow Bangalureans to commute to areas such as Whitefield, Tumkuru and Ramanagara, with stopovers at Yelahanka and Kengeri.

Those supporting the project say that while the existing tracks can be used for the project, the 9,000 crore project will also help upgrade railway infrastructure, which would help the Railways run more inter-city and goods trains.

Currently there are MEMU and DEMU services from Bengaluru City Central railway station to Ramanagaram (6 days a week), Nelmangala (daily) and from Yeshwantpur to Hosur (6 days a week) and a passenger train from Yeshwantpur to Tumakuru. The doubling of Yeshwantpur-Yelahanka line is almost complete.