State gets a fair share of largesse

State gets a fair share of largesse

TIMES NEWS NETWORK


Bangalore: Seven new trains from Bangalore, three stations — City Railway Station, Byappanahalli and Mangalore — to become model stations, seven new rail lines and a railway medical college in the city.
On Friday, the institution of Indian Railways, by itself of mammoth proportions, just got bigger for Karnataka and Bangalore in terms of reach, amenities and new lines. Railway minister Mamata Banerjee announced seven new trains from Bangalore, apart from a host of other facilities in what is a big bonanza for the state. NEW TRAINS
Bangalore-Hubli-Solapur Bangalore-Howrah Nizamuddin Rajdhani via Kacheguda Mysore-Yeshwantpur Lucknow-Rae Bareli-Bangalore Shimoga-Bangalore Inter-city Bangalore-Kochuveli State smileys: more trains & routes Railway minister Mamata Banerjee has been good to Karnataka, particularly Bangalore, Mangalore, Mysore
Bangalore: With seven new trains and seven new routes, and bonus in the form of three world-class stations and two medical college hospitals, the state can look forward to better and faster connectivity.
Divisional regional manager Akhil Agrawal told The Times of India that the 2009-10 budget was good, with a lot of importance given to Bangalore. “Besides these, the slew of passenger amenities that have been announced would all trickle down to Bangalore and the state as well. It’s only a matter of time before all or most of them are introduced here with possible slight variations,” he said.
The new trains will run between Bangalore and seven other places — Hubli-Solapur, Howrah, the Nizamuddin Rajdhani via Kacheguda, Mysore-Yeshwantpur, Lucknow-Rae Bareli-Bangalore, Shimoga-Bangalore Inter-City and between Bangalore and Kochuveli.
Banerjee announced that 50 stations around the country would have world class facilities. While the previous year’s budget tabled by then railway minister Lalu Prasad Yadav had named only Byappanahalli for this plan in South Western Railway (SWR) region, Banerjee has included two more stations in the region for this upgrade — Bangalore City and Mangalore.
In the wake of heightened security concerns, an integrated security scheme has been announced for 140 vulnerable stations. Agrawal presumed that Bangalore would be part of this scheme too.
Along with the existing railway hospitals, medical colleges are proposed to be started through a public-private partnership model. Mysore and Bangalore will get a college each.
While all inter-city trains are to have air-conditioned double-decker coaches, including ones from Bangalore, the transition will happen in due course of time. Several other passenger amenities, like having doctors on long-distance trains, automatic vending machines for selling tickets and others will all, in various capacities, be introduced in the state and in Bangalore station too.
Seven new lines
In another major bonanza, seven new lines have been announced too. These will be the Chikballapur-Satya Sai Prashanti Nilayam (Puttaparthi station), Almatti-Koppal, Almatti-Yadgir, Gadag-Haveri, Gadag-Wadi, Shimoga-Harihar and Anekal-Bidadi. New lines would mean that surveys would be conducted along these areas and the project then taken forward. Electrification of Bangalore-Guntakal section has also been announced.
Starting from Yeshwantpur, lines to Yelahanka and Chennasandra will have doubling of tracks. Agrawal added that a lot of importance had been given to the state and city in the current budget, adding that it was not possible at this stage to estimate the value of the total chunk for Karnataka in terms of rupees.
NEW LINES Chikballapur-Puttaparthi Almatti-Koppal Almatti-Yadgir Gadag-Haveri Gadag-Wadi Shimoga-Harihar Anekal-Bidadi MORE GOODIES
Medical colleges, attached to railway hospitals, in Mysore, Bangalore World-class facilities for Byappanahalli, Bangalore City and Mangalore stations Doubling of tracks along Yeshwantpur and Yelahanka, Chennasandra Air-conditioned double-decker coaches for inter-city trains Integrated security scheme — Bangalore to hopefully be part of it