Suburban train: Tracks are ready, but not a penny is forthcoming for project in Bengaluru

BENGALURU: Commuting in this city could be a lot easier with suburban trains that can haul scores of people across long distances. But it's been a 20-year wait that doesn't seem like it will end.

A commuter rail service (CRS) was first proposed in 1996 and the Rail Indian Technical and Economic Services (RITES) submitted a feasibility report in November 2012. Finally , in January this year, chief minister Siddaramaiah sought Rs 1,000 crore from the Union government for the first phase of the proposed CRS and another Rs 8,000 crore for the entire project. In March, he allotted Rs 100 crore for it in the state budget.

None of this money has been forthcoming. Now, South Western Railway divisional manager Sanjiv Agarwal says Bengaluru's rail network is "chocked beyond limits and we cannot accommodate more trains."

"Three months ago, we directed RITES to revise its report (because of the long gap since it was submitted)...Recently it submitted a revised report but there were technical errors and we sent it back," Agarwal said.

Commuters, however, are crying foul about Agarwal's assessment, saying the city already has a railway network that can be used for a suburban sed for a suburban train service.
"There is a clear rail route to Whitefield from the city and even to Devanahalli," said Sanjeev V Dyamannavar, member of citi zens group Praja RAAG and a leading advocate of CRS."A lack of interest in utilising the existing resources is resulting in traffic jams for hours every day ," he said.

"Neither the railways nor the state government needs to spend thousands of crores... they just need to spend a small amount of money in creating better platforms and upgrade to automatic signalling to start the service." One commuter rail can replace 300 cars or 20 buses on the road, Dyamannavar said, adding that a city like Bengaluru cannot be dependent on only one mode of transport. "The BMTC (bus service) carries 50 lakh passengers and now metro rail has reached one lakh passengers every day . If the commuter rail starts, it will solve 50% of the traffic jams in the city's IT corridors and other places."

Currently, commuters have the option of travelling within the city on trains coming from Hosur, Tumakuru, Bangarpet and Ramanagaram. There's no dedicated suburban service for the city .

RITES in its 2012 report proposed five routes for the commuter rail service: Yeshwantpur-Yelahanka (12.45 km), Yelahanka-Byappanahalli (19.23 km), Yeshwantpur-Byappanahalli (16.12 km), Yelahanka-Doddaballapur (20.72 km) and ByappanahalliWhitefield (13.1 km).

None of these routes are covered under the metro rail network although there's a proposal for a Byappanahalli-Whitefield line.