<p>The state government on Wednesday said a special purpose vehicle (SPV) for implementing the suburban railway project would be formed within a month.</p>.<p class="bodytext">At a high-level meeting with officials from urban development department, South Western Railways (SWR) as well as V K Saraswat of Niti Ayog, Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy said steps would be taken to expedite pending railway projects in the state.</p>.<p class="bodytext">“The state government has already sanctioned Rs 350 crore for the SPV and deposited Rs 100 crore with the railways. The railways will have 49% share in SPV while the state government will have the majority share of 51%,” the chief minister’s office said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Besides making effective utilisation of 444 km of railway network within Bengaluru, the railways has proposed to extend the network and upgrade it with facilities like automatic signalling and electrification.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The railways told the state government that 15 trains have been deployed for suburban rail services. Officials said 116 new trains can be introduced at a cost of Rs 1,745 crore.</p>.<p class="bodytext">SWR General Manager A K Gupta said the railways will be ready with the detailed project report for the 161 km suburban railway network by January.</p>.<p class="bodytext">“Indian Railways has agreed to Karnataka’s proposal for sharing 50% of the project cost. The DPRs will come in January,” he said.</p>
<p>The state government on Wednesday said a special purpose vehicle (SPV) for implementing the suburban railway project would be formed within a month.</p>.<p class="bodytext">At a high-level meeting with officials from urban development department, South Western Railways (SWR) as well as V K Saraswat of Niti Ayog, Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy said steps would be taken to expedite pending railway projects in the state.</p>.<p class="bodytext">“The state government has already sanctioned Rs 350 crore for the SPV and deposited Rs 100 crore with the railways. The railways will have 49% share in SPV while the state government will have the majority share of 51%,” the chief minister’s office said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Besides making effective utilisation of 444 km of railway network within Bengaluru, the railways has proposed to extend the network and upgrade it with facilities like automatic signalling and electrification.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The railways told the state government that 15 trains have been deployed for suburban rail services. Officials said 116 new trains can be introduced at a cost of Rs 1,745 crore.</p>.<p class="bodytext">SWR General Manager A K Gupta said the railways will be ready with the detailed project report for the 161 km suburban railway network by January.</p>.<p class="bodytext">“Indian Railways has agreed to Karnataka’s proposal for sharing 50% of the project cost. The DPRs will come in January,” he said.</p>
