Ministers MB Patil and KJ George inspect the work site at Lingarajapuram on Friday. Gaurav Gupta, Additional Chief Secretary, Infrastructure Department, and K-RIDE officials were present.
Credit: DH Photo
The 148.17-km Bengaluru Suburban Railway Project (BSRP) will get ready by 2028, Minister of Infrastructure Development M B Patil has stated, pushing the official deadline by over three years.
In June 2022, Prime Minister Narendra Modi promised that the project, conceived decades ago, would be completed in 40 months (October 2025).
On Friday, Patil visited three places (Lingarajapuram, Shampura and Yeshwantpur) where groundwork has begun to build the BSRP's Corridor 2.
He later conducted a press conference and explained the difficulties in executing what he called was a "complex" project. He nearly acknowledged that meeting the 40-month deadline was "impossible".
According to Patil, Rail Infrastructure Development Company Limited (Karnataka) aims to complete the project by 2026 but will likely need two more years given the technical and construction challenges. He stressed that the state government and the railways needed to work together.
K-RIDE is the special-purpose vehicle for the BSRP, a joint venture of the state and union governments.
K-RIDE officials specified that the project had been impacted because they needed railways' approval every step of the way.
Patil exuded confidence that Corridor 2 (Baiyappanahalli-Chikkabavanavar, 25.01 km) would be completed in the next 26 months. The deadline given to the contractor — L&T Limited — in August 2022 was 28 months.
"So far, 10-15% of the work has been completed. The ongoing work on railway underbridges and overbridges will get over in the next 10-12 months, including on the RUB at Shampura," he explained.
He expressed optimism that the first batch of 10 trains will arrive in October 2025 and will be used on Corridor 2. K-RIDE is procuring 306 air-conditioned coaches in public-private partnership for the entire project.
Patil said tenders for the construction of 12 stations along Corridor 2 would be opened on August 31 and that the first pillars on the elevated section of Corridor 2 would come up in the next two months.
A K-RIDE official said except for electrical cables, all utilities had been shifted along Corridor 2.
As for Corridor 4 (Heelalige-Rajanukunte, 46.88 km), Patil said the civil work contract would be finalised soon.
Asked about Corridor 1, which would connect Majestic with Devanahalli via the airport over 41.4 km, Patil said it was "delayed" because the airport metro line was already under construction. "In the suburban railway project, we are prioritising those parts of Bengaluru that do not have metro connectivity," he said.
He said the alignment for the airport line had been sent to the railways for approval and promised that civil work tenders would be called in September.
Corridor 3 (Kengeri-Whitefield, 35.52 km) will be the last to be taken for construction because this line is already served by a metro line, he said.
Patil stressed the need to extend the BSRP to neighbouring towns such as Chikkaballapur, Mysuru, Magadi, Tumakuru, Gauribidanur, Kolar and Hosur.
Energy Minister K J George accompanied Patil during the inspection at Shampura. RR Nagar MLA Munirathna, K-RIDE Managing Director Gaurav Gupta, Director (Project and Planning) R K Singh and other senior officials were present at the event.
'Dedicated MD in 3 months'
Responding to a question from DH, Patil promised that K-RIDE would get a dedicated managing director in the next three months.
"The railways and the state government need to agree to certain things. We want a general official to hold the post while the railways wants its own officer in the chair. It's an administrative issue and we will sort it out in the next three months," he explained.
The current MD, Gaurav Gupta, also handles the Energy and Infrastructure Development Departments.
Double-deck track at Yelahanka
Yelahanka, an interchange station for Corridors 1 and 4, would get a double-deck track under the suburban rail project.