The Bengaluru Suburban Rail Project is being executed by the State government through Rail Infrastructure Development Company (Karnataka), which is a joint venture between the Karnataka government and Indian Railways.
| Photo Credit: file photo
Flagging the issue that tenders for the supply of train sets/rolling stocks floated by the State government for the Bengaluru Suburban Rail Project (BSRP) had failed thrice, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, who was in the city on Saturday, said that Railways was now proposing to supply the train sets for BSRP.
When asked why the tenders had failed, Mr. Vaishnaw said that they were structured by the State government as a PPP project, where someone would supply the trains and payment would be made over many years. “It does not work in the metro and railway sector,” he said.
Expressing disappointment over the execution of BSRP by the State government, he urged for a greater synergy between the State and the Centre.
“It is a painful matter that the project execution by the State government is not upto the satisfaction of what the people want,” he told presspersons here. “A major problem is the lack of technical people. We will request the State government to allow appointment of a full-time managing director from Indian Railways’ technical cadre. Otherwise things are not moving forward.”
The suburban railway and the metro would help in the decongestion of Bengaluru, he said, adding that there is a need to rapidly expand the network, which included hastening construction work. The project is being executed by the State government through Rail Infrastructure Development Company (Karnataka) (K-RIDE), which is a joint venture between the Karnataka government and Indian Railways.
The Minister said: “We should have a technical person as a full-time MD and have at least 12 technically qualified persons in electrical, civil, and signalling domains to be appointed at the earliest. We will give the State government a proposal and if it agrees, we will depute people from Indian Railways so that the project can move faster.”
“We should not get into the domain of Centre, State, or Ministries. Our focus should be that people of Bengaluru get the facilities at the earliest. With that objective we will work and support the project,” he said.
Currently, the investment on the suburban railway together by the State and the Centre is ₹15,767 crore. The Minister claimed that funding from the Centre was being released as per requirement.
Circular railway
He also said that the concept of circular railway was getting developed, and Bengaluru was connected by seven spokes to the city. “We should plan from the perspective of 50 years. It is now crystalising.” The detailed project report for the project conceived about one-and-a-half years ago is getting ready, he added.
Long-distance trains from Bengaluru to be doubled
Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Saturday said that the number of long-distance trains per day will be doubled from the current 200 to 400.
“We want to increase the capacity of the Bengaluru area. In all big cities, we want to increase the capacity so that the cities can take and dispatch more trains. There is a plan to increase 200 trains per day to 400 per day over the next five to six years. People will be comfortable. The objective is that in the next five to six years, people travelling from Bengaluru should not have a waiting list,” he said.
He said that the target was large, and that it required a lot of work and patience. “We should be in a comfortable situation to travel.”
More tracks added in Karnataka than the entire network in Sri Lanka
Since 2014, more railway tracks have been laid in Karnataka than the entire railway network of Sri Lanka.
According to Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw: “Since 2014, more railway tracks have been laid in Karnataka than the entire railway network of Sri Lanka with 1,652 km of new railway tracks constructed.”
He pointed out that in 2014, investment on the railway network in the State was ₹835 crore and it had increased nine times to ₹7,564 crore in 2025. The total investments of railway projects in Karnataka during this period was ₹51,479 crores, he said.
He said that 644 flyovers/underpasses have been constructed in the State, and 10 Vande Bharat trains are either originating, passing through, or terminating in Karnataka. “Many more will come.” As many as 61 railway stations are being completely rebuilt, he added.
Published – February 15, 2025 10:05 pm IST
