While Bengalureans are applauding Union railway minister, Suresh Prabhu’s announcement of a commuter rail for the city in his railway budget presented on Thursday, they are not entirely convinced it will see the light of day even now as there was no mention of the Centre's contribution to the project or a time- frame for it. In his 46 pages long budget speech, Mr. Prabhu only said Bengaluru, the technology hub of the country, needed a comprehensive suburban system and the Centre would “partner with the state government in this endeavour.’’
Not satisfied with the announcement, both civic activists and ordinary Bengalureans recall that it has been over 10 years since the city has been demanding a suburban rail and it has been held up owing to a lack of communication between the state government and railway board as well as lack of political will to see it through.
Says Ms Anupama of the civic group, Whitefield Rising, “It is great move but it is not over. We need to now work with both the Centre and the state government to make the commuter rail a reality . We need to know how much the Centre will allocate for the project and what best we can achieve. If it becomes a reality, the city will see 40 to 50 per cent less traffic on its roads.”
If all goes well, Phase 1 of the commuter rail will cover the Bengaluru-Tumakuru, Bengaluru-Bangarpet and Bengaluru-Mandya corridors, Phase 2 ,the Bengaluru-Hosur, Bengaluru-Chikkbalapur and Bengaluru-Nelamangala corridors and Phase III, will see the train run on the Bengaluru- Doddaballapur route as well as the missing links.
The state government first sent a proposal on the project to the railway board in October 2013. The board in turn asked for inputs from the South Western Railway , Hubballi, which gave its clearance for the project in March, 2014. However, since then there has been little progress as the railway board has had no meetings with the state government to take it further.
But it now appears the growing traffic snarls and slow pace of work on the Metro Rail have forced the authorities to give the suburban rail serious thought. The efforts of the state government were evident for the first time during Invest Karnataka — 2016 when minister K J George insisted on the project. And since the Union railway minister’s visit to Bengaluru, both citizen groups and the state government have been hard at work to see that it becomes a reality.
As the commuter rail will provide connectivity from the city to not too distant destinations like Whitefield, Tumkur and Ramnagara, with stopovers in suburbs like Yelahanka and Kengeri, it is expected to take a huge load off the roads. It is also expected to be more economical to implement than the Metro Rail as the existing rail tracks can be used for the project. Moreover, 58 per cent of the investment in the project will go towards upgrading railway infrastructure and doubling the tracks, which in turn will help the Indian Railways run more inter-city and goods trains, point out civic groups, which are hoping the government will not let them down this time.
Mahesh Mahadevaiah, member of Suburban Rail Passengers Association has expressed disappointment with the budget and termed is as ‘tasteless food’. He said, “The minister merely made a political statement. He just repeated his statements that he made in Invest Karnataka. This does not show its commitment towards the project.”
Members of association will now plan rail roko or hunger strike in front of Vidhana Soudha, if their demands are not taken seriously this time. “The ministers know that the city requires a suburban rail and if they still do not act, we will have to take severe steps,” he added.
A reformist, not populist budget
Karnataka's wish-list for the railway budget included direct train connectivity between the Bengaluru city station and the Kempegowda international airport, introduction of a speed train on the Chennai-Bengaluru- Mysuru route, early completion of the Bengaluru-Hassan railway line, and a new Hubli-Ankola railway line. But the Union railway minister ignored it although a delegation of state MPs led by none other than former Chief Minister, BS Yeddyurappa, met him prior to the budget’s announcement with Karnataka’s demands.
According to experts, Mr. Prabhu was possibly in a dilemma as he could not present a populist budget when he is a known reformist. “Mobilisation of resources was the biggest task before him as there is strong resistance to fare revision. So it appears he has opted for more reforms and making major announcements post- budget,” said Mr. Vivesk Shenoy, a logistics expert, adding, "
The Bengaluru-Mysuru high speed rail is the best example. This project was announced without taking into account that it was not feasible on this stretch. And when Mr. Sadananda Gowda was the railway minister, he announced the Bengaluru-Mangaluru train. But it too could not be implemented and the SWR was dragged to court.
Resource mobilisation given priority: Anuj Sharma, President-BCIC
The announcement of a suburban rail for Bengaluru comes as a great relief as the city is choking with traffic. We urge the state government to put the project on fast track with the Ministry of Railways so it can be implemented as early as possible. Not only will it address the immediate concerns of congestion in the city, but also help Bengaluru retain its position as a preferred business destination .
Overall, the Budget appears focused and practical given the kind of Capex spend and resource mobilisation it has come up with. Mr Prabhu has announced a number of initiatives that the Indian Railways will be taking to make the mammoth public sector enterprise more efficient while ensuring that the travelling public is provided all the amenities it needs. Importantly, for the travelling public, he has not hiked passenger fares.
I commend the Railway Minister for announcing a slew of measures that could bring about a marked change in the operational efficiency of the world’s largest railway network like focusing on CAPEX, going in for joint ventures with states, developing new frameworks for PPP, improving connectivity, focusing on doubling gauge conversions and electrification, improving speed and punctuality of trains, augmenting annual passenger and track capacity, integrating technology for booking of tickets with ease and so on, which will create a path of growth for the country’s railway sector.
