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Bengaluru: After 33 years, Suburban Rail chugging

Railway Board chairman will shortly arrive in Bengaluru to begin talks with Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa.

BENGALURU: Some 33 years after it was first proposed, Bengaluru will follow in the footsteps of all the major metros and start work on a dedicated suburban railway service, after it was approved by the Extended Railway Board (ERB) of the Indian Railways Monday. Railway Board chairman will shortly arrive in Bengaluru to begin talks with Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa.

Bengaluru South MP, Tejasvi Surya, one of the prime movers behind the project said, "We achieved a huge milestone on Monday in addressing the Urban mobility crisis of Bengaluru. Our city is the only metro which does not have a Suburban Railway network. The Suburban Railway, something that Bengalureans have been asking for the last 33 years, finally gained the clearance of the Extended Railway Board on Monday." The announcement follows on the heels of various citizen groups in the city and a Twitter campaign by Bengaluru activists pressing authorities to start the service as a solution to the city's growing traffic problems, especially in the high density IT Corridor along the Outer Ring Road.

Cities like Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai already have suburban railway services.

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