HIGH-SPEED RAIL LINK Contract will be awarded in Feb ’09

HIGH-SPEED RAIL LINK Contract will be awarded in Feb ’09
After long-winding debates over the alignment, the high-speed rail link (HSRL) from the city centre to the Bengaluru International Airport (BIA) at Devanahalli is gathering pace. At the recent Agenda for Bangalore Infrastructure Development (ABIDe) meeting, chief minister B S Yeddyurappa announced that the expressions of interest have been called for this project.
The project’s nodal agency, Karnataka State Industrial Investment and Development Corporation (KSIIDC), published a request for qualification (RFQ) to develop the HSRL on a ‘design build finance operate and transfer’ model. According to the RFQ dated August 6, 2008, the letter of award of the contract will be issued in February, 2009. The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) is the consultant/project adviser in the concessioning process.
THE ROUTE
The HSRL will start at the police grounds near MG Road, where the city airport terminal (CAT) is being planned. The link will have two stations — Hebbal and Yelahanka — before it ends at BIA (Terminal No. 1). Three of the four stations will be elevated. While the BIA station was proposed to be elevated, BIAL is exploring the possibility of having it underground. Check-in facilities will be available at CAT as well as Hebbal stations, where passengers can complete luggage check-in. Additional area will be provided in station concourses for this. The KSIIDC arrived at a train operation plan for 2011, 2016 and 2021. The train carrying capacity per hour per direction has been pegged at 2,526, 3,158 and 4,210 for the three years respectively. A train maintenance depot is planned on 25 hectares near the airport.