The construction of two island platforms at the Bengaluru Cantonment railway station, Karnataka’s oldest, will take two more months than expected.
In December 2022, the South Western Railway (SWR) announced that ongoing yard remodelling works would be completed by February 2023. But this deadline has now been pushed back by two months. An SWR official said the yard remodelling would be completed by April 2023.
Yard remodelling at Bengaluru Cantonment was approved in 2018-19 at a cost of Rs 45.28 crore. It entails the construction of two 540-metre-long island platforms (four additional platforms) and three railway lines, besides the loop lines. The station currently has four platforms, which would remain untouched.
The project will facilitate the introduction of more long-distance trains, helping decongest the KSR Bengaluru railway station.
It will also make it easier to run more suburban trains to Whitefield and beyond.
In the second phase, the station building will be redeveloped into an air-conditioned airport-like terminal, according to the SWR.
The yard remodelling project was added to the railways’ Gati Shakti Directorate in 2022 for faster implementation. Gati Shakti aims to fast-track railway works by removing bottlenecks, improving mobility, increasing freight loads, etc, the SWR said.
On Thursday, SWR General Manager Sanjeev Kishore, Bengaluru Divisional Railway Manager Shyam Singh and other officials visited the Bengaluru Cantonment station and reviewed the progress of yard remodelling.
Cantt-Baiyappanahalli to have 4 lines by June 2024
The seven-km Bengaluru Cantonment-Baiyappanahalli section will have four railway lines by June 2024, while the 11-km Baiyappanahalli-Whitefield section will have four lines by December 2024, a railway official said.
At present, the 18-km Bengaluru Cantonment-Whitefield section has two railway lines. The SWR is adding two more. This will not only speed up train movements to Chennai but also help the Bengaluru Suburban Railway Project (BSRP), whose 35.52-km Parijata Line will connect Kengeri with Whitefield via Cantonment.
An SWR official said bridgework, earthwork and retaining wall construction were going on between Cantonment and Baiyappanahalli, while tracks would be laid at a later stage.