Will Monorail skip B’lore?

TRAIN OF THOUGHTS
Will Monorail skip B’lore?
DEccan Herald

Promoters of monorail, Metrail India, that only a year ago opposed the Metro project and touted monorail as a better option, now claims to have “very little interest in Bangalore”. This, despite the right noises made by Chief Minister Kumaaraswamy, who recently announced that he will meet the promoters of monorail to discuss the option, and the transfer of BMRC MD K N Srivastava, who had openly questioned the claims of Metrail in the past.

“Our proposal to set up monorail as public transport system is pending with the government for over a year. We are now looking at Hyderabad and New Delhi, where we are bidding for setting up feeder systems. We have very little interest in this City,” said Rehan Khan, Executive Director, Metrail, on Wednesday. Metrail has signed an agreement with Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise (NICE) to set up a monorail system between Bangalore and Mysore.

CM denies lobby politics

Chief Minister H D Kumaaraswamy on Monday denied the allegations of Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation (BMRC) former Managing Director K N Srivastava that monorail lobby was responsible for him being shunted out of BMRC. Speaking to reporters after releasing the common minimum action plan of the JD (S)-BJP combine, he declared, “no lobby, including monorail lobby, can buy this government.” He added that Mr Srivastava’s removal was an administrative matter and Mr Deve Gowda had no role in this decision. He clarified that there will be no hitch due to the transfer. “We are committed to provide Metro rail to the people of Bangalore. There is no need to have any doubts,” he said.