suburban rail

Suburban Rail as a mass urban transport has a big role to play in controlling Bengaluru’s traffic. This project has been crawling for more than a decade. The proposals for this came well before 2010. During last few years, due to pressure from different corners and follow ups, the project has been taken up seriously by both GOK and Ministry of Railways on cost sharing basis. Unfortunately Government of Karnataka (GoK) is very slow in taking this forward. The priorities of Railways are for intercity trains and goods train movement. So the government needs to go a step further to…

'NGT buffer zone will raze 95% of the city' National Green Tribunal's order of adherence to buffer zones for lakes and drains will see 95% of Bengaluru razed, as most buildings are in the vicinity of lakes and tertiary drains, said Uday Holla, Advocate General of Karnataka, in a written submission at the Supreme Court last week. Earlier the Supreme Court had also expressed reservations on the rights of the National Green Tribunal, a statutory body, to change the 30-metre buffer zone around lakes in Bengaluru to 75 metres. Citizen Matters had earlier written about the problem in detail. Source:…

City transport scene The European Investment Bank and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank have agreed to lend €500 million and €300 million respectively to the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) to execute the Gottigere-Nagawara line under Phase II of the project. A proposal to realign the Metro line to the airport through Hebbal junction was approved by the Karnataka cabinet.  The state cabinet also approved the proposal for four suburban railway corridors that will have 81 stations, on a total route length of 160.50km. TenderSURE work is set to begin on K.G. Road in Gandhinagar and Margosa Road in Malleswaram and…

It was a day filled with obvious contrasts  - the kind that would ideally help make right decisions about the nightmare that we know as urban transport in Bangalore. The question of mass transit versus private vehicles was never answered more effectively for me. On Friday, the last day of August, I was slated to cover the Rail Yatra that was being organised by Citizens For Bengaluru, to reiterate their demand for a suburban rail service for the city. The 3 pm train was to start from Yeshvanthpur and reach Heelalige, a picturesque little station (reminiscent of R K Narayan’s Malgudi…

KSNDMC warns of possible flooding in September Bengalureans felt the ripple effect of floods in Kodagu District (where a rainfall of 768mm left villages ravaged) on August 24, when the city received 43 mm of rainfall till 9 pm. Areas such as Malleswaram, Rajajinagar, Hebbal, Sadashivanagar, Kengeri, Adugodi and Mysore road received very heavy rainfall. Once the rain started, Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre (KSNDMC) issued warnings by dispatching messages through their mobile application to certain key areas. The centre has forecast heavy rain in the immediate future, and has intimated the same to BBMP. Scientists warn that 80 mm…

There has been renewed hope among some circles in Bengaluru after the Union Railway Minister Mr. Sadananda Gowda made a mention in the Rail Budget about the much delayed Suburban Rail System. The project also found a mention in Siddaramaiah state budget last year. A Special Purpose Vehicle was formed as well by the State Government. This was without the involvement of Railway Board. Praja RAAG, an online forum, has been pushing for implementation of CRS for the last few years. Unfortunately, they have found little support from political circles or from citizens for this project. This is not surprising…