Bangalore South MP Tejasvi Surya expressed frustration over the sluggish progress of the Bengaluru Suburban Railway Undertaking (BSRP) throughout a Public Accounts Committee assembly in Delhi on Thursday.
Criticising the shortage of coordination between the railways and the Karnataka state authorities, Surya highlighted the undertaking’s minimal development, important for alleviating Bengaluru’s visitors congestion and offering reasonably priced transport to lakhs of each day commuters.
“The Bengaluru Suburban Railway Undertaking is important for town, but it stays caught with solely a few tenders finalised,” Surya stated, addressing the authorities managing the Rs 15,767-crore, 148-km suburban rail community. Authorized in 2022, the undertaking’s completion has been delayed to 2027 because of stalled corridors.
Surya urged the railways to prioritise its execution to satisfy Bengaluru’s pressing wants, and raised considerations concerning the underutilised railway traces working at simply 25 per cent capability and the absence of a brand new direct categorical prepare between Bengaluru and Mumbai. “For 30 years, no new direct prepare has been launched between these two financial hubs. The Udyan Specific is the one choice, pushing travellers to costlier flights,” he stated.
Surya additionally demanded the quick introduction of a Superfast Specific and reiterated the necessity for a proposed Excessive-Pace Rail hall connecting Bengaluru, Hubballi, Pune, and Mumbai. “This high-speed hall will rework connectivity and increase North Karnataka’s financial system,” he added.
The MP additional referred to as for increasing Bengaluru’s suburban rail community, doubling important railway traces, upgrading station infrastructure, and bettering integration between railway and metro stations. “These long-pending initiatives deserve critical consideration, and the railways should act at once,” Surya urged.
The delay within the Bengaluru Suburban Railway Undertaking has additionally obtained intensive backlash from civic teams. Many have identified that the works on corridors 2 and 4 have stopped, with no readability but from Okay-RIDE, which is implementing the undertaking.
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“BSRP is slated to supply the third choice of public transport after bus and Metro. Sadly, BSRP has already confronted quite a few delays on numerous grounds. A traditional instance is: work on an important Hall 1 (to Airport Terminal) is but to start, 55 months after sanction. The current standing doesn’t bode effectively for town and is certain to not solely delay additional the answer however will even result in value escalations,” Rajkumar Dugar, convenor of Residents 4 Residents discussion board, stated.
A December 2024 skilled committee report from the Indian Institute of Science additionally states that just about 20 lakh individuals will instantly profit from utilizing BSRP corridors for his or her each day commute.