Second rail line between B'luru, Mysuru likely to open by Nov-end

Will ease travel between the two cities as more trains could be run

Travelling between Bengaluru and Mysuru and vice versa by train will be a lot quicker in the coming days as the much-awaited second rail line between the two cities is likely to be commissioned by the end of November.

The 24-km line between Yeliyur and Naganahalli, part of the 140-km track between the two cities, is complete and the Commissioner of Railway Safety will inspect it on November 13. Once the commissioner gives the green light, the entire second line between the two cities will be opened for traffic, Rajkumar Lal, Divisional Railway Manager (DRM), Mysuru, South Western Railway (SWR), told reporters here on Friday. With this, the 10-year-long wait for a second rail line will be fulfilled. The project cost Rs 874 crore, he said.

However, a 1.7-km line near Srirangapatna, where Tipu’s armoury is located and which is being shifted out, will not be part of the second line. So, trains will move on the existing single line on this particular stretch, Lal clarified.

The second line will help address many complaints about rail travel between Bengaluru and Mysuru. At present, a total of 27 trains run between the two cities. Ten more trains can be run once the double track is commissioned. But this is not immediately possible as the Bengaluru City railway station sees high rail traffic. More trains could be introduced only if a satellite railway station is built at Baiyappanahalli in Bengaluru, Lal added.

To a query, Lal said a survey on the proposed Mysuru-Kushalnagar-Madikeri line had been completed while the study on doubling of Shivamogga-Sringeri-Mangaluru and Hassan-Mangaluru lines was in progress. Reports on these projects will be submitted to the railway board soon, he added.

The DRM expressed confidence that the two new double line projects sanctioned in the current railway budget — Tumakuru-Arsikere (96 km) and Chikkajajur-Hubballi (190 km) — would be completed in three years.

Simplified procedure
Lal said the railways had simplified the procedure to start work on big projects within three to six months of their announcement in the budget. It is due to a mechanism incorporated in the railways for a steady pipeline of funding to meet the expenditure target through enhanced budgetary support, internal generation, institutional financing, etc for speedy execution of critical capacity-building rail projects. In the traditional system, however, tendering begins almost three years after a project is announced in the budget.