Hassan-Bengaluru new railway line misses another deadline

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

SWR hopeful of commissioning the new line by this December

The South Western Railway (SWR) will miss the March 2016 deadline given by the then Railway Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda to complete the Bengaluru-Hassan new railway line.

After resolving many bottlenecks, the construction wing of the SWR has stumbled upon another bottleneck — non availability of 14 acres of land to lay about four-km of line between Solur and Tippasandra in Ramanagara district.

Otherwise, physical laying of the new line is complete and works on Railway stations are under progress, sources in the SWR told The Hindu.

Instead of the district administration, acquisition of the required land is now being moved through the Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB) and the SWR is hopeful of resolving the issue in a month’s time. Sources say if this happens, the line could be laid by June.

However, SWR would take more time to make the track worthy for operation as additional infrastructure has to be created. Works on signalling, telecommunication, station facilities etc., could take about another five months and line is likely to be commissioned by December this year, sources said.

Parts commissioned

Parts of the new line have already been commissioned and regular train service is on between Bengaluru and Nelamangala. The line branches out of Tumakuru-Hubballi line at Chikkabanavara towards Nelamangala and further.

Similarly, the section between Hassan and Shravanabelagola was commissioned in 2006 and trains were operated during the Mahamastakabhisheka. Now, passenger trains are running on this section.

Claims doubtful

T.P. Lokesh, a resident of Bengaluru, doubted SWR’s claims on commissioning the line by December. He told The Hindu the tenders for signalling were called recently and it would take time to finalise the same. Hence, it may not be possible for SWR to keep the promise, he said and urged the Ministry to expedite the matter.

While the distance between Bangalore and Hassan is 259 km via Mysore, it is 213 km via Arsikere. However, the distance would be about 172 km if the direct line becomes operational. Moreover, both Mysore and Arsikere sections from Bangalore are already saturated and there is less scope for introduction of any new train.