We are planning circular railway network around Bengaluru, says Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw

Railways planning circular railway network around Bengaluru, funding to be completed by year-end, says Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.

In good news for commuters, Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw sanctioned ₹7 crore to conduct a pre-feasibility test for the long overdue Bengaluru Suburban Railway Project (BSRP). He also told reporters that the project will start soon and will not be delayed due to the vacant MD position in the K-RIDE company, according to news agency PTI.

Union railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw. (File Photo)

The Railways is planning to develop a circular railway network around Bengaluru to ease the city's infamous congestions, Vaishnaw said, adding that the progress of funding the project was going on very well and that it will be done by the end of the year.

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“I think that the time will soon come. Our government, when we started the journey in 2014 at the central level, things changed a lot. I can say that the project will not suffer because of these things. I told the railway team to pick up whatever gaps are there in the JV company and fulfill those gaps from the railway side. From the central government side, pick up whatever gaps are there in this (project) and do the work and provide that technical input, which is required to be provided in this project,” he said.

“You have to ask this (about commencing of operations) to both the state and the Centre. My point is, suburban project has got full commitment of the Centre. I can assure you that very sincerely, very emphatically. Everything that is needed, we will do. The Centre’s commitment is to the people of Bengaluru. We should not bring politics in such discussions. We have to rise above politics and deliver the services which the people of Bengaluru need,” he added.

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“We have sanctioned ₹seven crore for doing a Detailed Project Report of a circular railway. For a ring railway kind of system, which will basically provide a complete connectivity to the city as it grows in the next 20 to 30 years. That company again is a joint venture and it has very limited technical capabilities. I've already requested the GM (South Western Railway General Manager) itself. In the first discussion I was asking about when are we going to take Vande Bharat to Mangaluru,” he further stated.

(With inputs from PTI)