The South Western Railway on Monday said the Yeshwantpur Terminal 2 proposals had been submitted to the Centre for approval as officials cited pending projects and saturated lines to explain limitations for running more suburban trains.
The project was mentioned at a meeting of the MPs in the region. In response to a demand by Dharmapuri parliamentarian S Senthil Kumar for the introduction of more trains to Puducherry, railway officials said it can be considered after the commissioning of the terminal.
The new terminal with four platforms has been planned to decongest the present station. “The proposal has been placed before the Railway Board. Ultimately, decisions need to be taken at the ministry level for which political will is more important,” a senior official said.
The meeting saw demands from the Mysore-Kodagu MP to introduce more suburban trains. Speaking to DH, Bengaluru Divisional Railway Manager Ashok Kumar Verma said the completion of work on the Baiyappanahalli terminal by March 2020 would help trains moving towards the east, an issue that came up in the meeting time and again.
To Bangalore Central MP P C Mohan’s demand for more trains to Whitefield, officials replied that there were 23 trains running from Bengaluru towards Whitefield and 10 trains in the return direction. More trains could be run after the quadrupling of the lines, they said.
Urban transport activist Sanjeev Dyamannavar said MPs should play a proactive role, especially in getting clearances for key projects like the Yeshwantpur Terminal 2 and automatic signalling. “Officials have done their part. Now it is left to the MPs to put pressure on the Centre and get a green signal, especially for smaller projects that play a major role in facilitating operations,” he said.
Tejasvi Surya, MP from Bangalore South, urged the SWR to publish jobs related advertisements in Kannada as well on the railways’ website. To his request for running operate additional services between KSR Bengaluru/Yeshwantpur and Whitefield/Hosur, railway officials assured of taking up a feasibility study in the coming days.
Automatic signalling
To a question by Tumkur MP G S Basavaraj, officials said automatic signalling on the busy Bengaluru-Tumakuru section has been proposed. The Rs 169.4-crore project would be taken up as part of a comprehensive project awaiting sanction.
The Tumakuru-Rayadurga line may not be completed anytime soon as data given by the officials showed that only 443 acres of the total 1,357 acres have been acquired for the project.