Bengaluru: Suburban rail gets Rs 17,000 crore in Rail Budget

Bengaluru: The much awaited Suburban Rail project which is expected to ease traffic congestion in Bengaluru to a large extent and complement Namma Metro services, finally got the go-ahead from the Centre with Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announcing a corpus of Rs 17,000 crore for the 160 km local rail network. This comes a day after the state cabinet approved the Suburban Rail project's first phase, to be implemented in the next three years and agreed to provide Rs 1,745 crore for the project.

Mr Jaitley did not give any other  details saying they would be explained in the Pink Book (Railway's Budget book), to be released in a couple of days. Railway officials said that in the Bengaluru network, as of now, there will be a total of 58 trains offering 116 services. Each train will have a capacity to carry 1,800 to 2,000 passengers per trip.  

The project will provide significant relief to the daily commuter, boost public transport and reduce the burden on city roads but its completion depends on bureaucratic procedures and a  discussion between the state and the railways on cost sharing and launching of the Special Purpose Vehicle to implement the project .