Commuter rail project trips over faults in report

Ms Manjula of the Directorate of Urban Land Transport (DULT) told Deccan Chronicle, “We recently shared a detailed project report (DPR) prepared by the RITES with the Railways, which has raised a few objections. We have sent the feedback to the RITES.” It took two years to prepare the DPR and take it up for discussion with the Railways, but still it is replete with flaws. A source at DULT said, “There are a lot of engineering and technical lapses in the DPR. The report is outdated and has not taken many ongoing and pending railway projects into consideration. It has taken Yelahanka to Guntakal as a single line, while it has already made a double track.”

In September 2014, all the important members of the Railways held a meeting on suburban rail on the requirements for the project in the first six months and then the next 12 months. This was forwarded to DULT, but was not incorporated in the DPR. This eventually means further delay for the commuter rail project which has been pushed back for years.

With the Metro expected to take a few more years to complete, the commuter rail can take the load off the road and allow Bengalureans to commute with ease to destinations like Whitefield, Tumakuru and Ramanagar, with stopovers at suburbs like Yelahanka and Kengeri.

While the existing tracks can be used, its supporters say 58% of the total investment of Rs 9,000 crore will go towards upgrading the railway infrastructure and for doubling the tracks, which in turn will help the Railways run more intercity and goods trains.