Rail Net Work in Karnataka

440-km commuter rail network planned in Karnataka Published: Saturday, Nov 10, 2012, 14:11 IST  By Suchith Kidiyoor | Place: Bangalore | Agency: DNA
The Rail India Technical and Economic Services (Rites) has submitted its final report on a commuter rail system (CRS) connecting the city with suburban areas. The directorate of urban land transport will convene a meeting within a week to examine the report with stakeholders concerned. “After a draft report was submitted by Rites, we had given our comments. Now that they have submitted the final report, we’ll convene a meeting to examine it with other stakeholders,” Majula V, chief commissioner of the directorate , said. In its 179-page report, Rites elaborated on linking the city with suburban areas which include Tumkur, Hosur, Bangarpet, and Chikkaballapur. The three long routes proposed are Bangalore-Mandya (92.88km), Bangalore-Bangarpet (70.21km), and Bangalore-Tumkur (64km). Long distance routes include Yeshwantpur- Yelahanka (12.45km), Yelahanka-Baiyappanahalli (19.23km), Yeshwantpur-Baiyappanahalli (16.12km) and Yelahanka-Doddaballapur (20.72km). The project will cover 440.8km. Rites has suggested following the fare module of the Mumbai suburban rail system. Backing the project, Rites explained the need for a CRS. It costs less to the exchequer compared with the Metro. It costs between `15 crore and Rs20 crore per kilometre for a commuter rail system. On the other hand, the Metro costs `250 crore and monorail `175 crore per km. Occupancy rate can be increased by adding coaches and adopting dedicated train paths. The project can be taken up in phases depending on areas, density of commuters, and other issues. Binny Mill land Rites officials, who had surveyed railway and non-railway land, felt the available railway land near Binny Mill land must be used for the project. “Without the Binny Mill land, there may not be a commuter rail system (CRS),” the report said. Binny Mills land abutting the railway land is most promising. The terminal can be located here with easy access to the railway station. The place is also accessible by road. Thus, it can be designed into a multimodal terminal, the report said. Airport link Advocating that the commuter rail system (CRS) can be connected to the Bengaluru International Airport to help air passengers, the report said: “The CRS network passes very close to the airport.The track between Doddajala and Devanahalli stations lies just about 6km away from the airport.If this 6km track is laid out, the CRS can reach the airport too.”