Path paved for train to Devanahalli

Path paved for train to Devanahalli
By P M Raghunandan, DH News Service, Bangalore:
Work on the elevated, high-speed rail link to the Devanahalli international airport is all set to begin at full pace.

With an aim to avoid any delay in preparing the ground for the project launch, the State government has decided to appoint the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) as the project consultant. The DMRC has been authorised to prepare the tender document, official sources told Deccan Herald.

The State Executive Committee headed by Governor Rameshwar Thakur cleared the project only last week.

Tender document
Once the tender document is ready, the process of inviting tenders will be taken up. On the other end, the Karnataka State Industrial Investment and Development Corporation which has been appointed the nodal agency to implement the project, will simultaneously call for expression of interest from investors, besides setting up a special purpose vehicle on the lines of the Bangalore Metro Railway Corporation (BMRC).

All these steps are likely to be completed in the next few days, the official sources said.

“The government move will save a lot of time, as inviting tenders for appointing a consultant would itself have taken months,” they added.

In fact, the DMRC is the only government agency in the country having expertise in designing and implementing high speed rail projects.

The DMRC is currently implementing a similar project in Delhi.

“The State government is keen on utilising the expertise of DMRC for speedy implementation. The aim is to start the civil works by 2008-end and complete it by 2011,” the sources said.

And officials do not see any hurdle in the way of the project. For, unlike the Bangalore Metro, land required for this project is much less.

High-speed LINK
*Actual work to begin by 2008-end
* 34-km rail from BRV ground to airport
* Train frequency is 10 minutes initially
* Maximum speed of 160 kmph
* Each train to have 6 coaches
* Scheduled to be operational from 2011