Railways seeks land for world-class stations

Railways seeks land for world-class stations

Anil Kumar Sastry

Byappanahalli station will be taken up firstland

‘We are watching infrastructure development;

Bangalore: Minister of State for Railways K.H. Muniyappa on Saturday said the work on the proposed world-class station at Byappanahalli in Bangalore could be expedited if the State Government hands over the required land for the project, including that belonging to the NGEF.

Interacting with The Hindu at its office here, Mr. Muniyappa said the project required considerable land the extent of which has been communicated to the State Government. In reply to a query, he said that such projects in New Delhi and Mumbai were yet to take off.

The Chief Administrative Officer (Construction) of the South Western Railway, S. Vijayakumaran, said the Railways has prepared the concept report for the project and it has been approved by the Railway Board. The State Government has been urged to constitute a high-power committee headed by the Chief Secretary and comprising officials from utility agencies and the Railways for regular monitoring of the work.

Byappanahalli is proposed to be the third passenger terminal for Bangalore as the city as well as Yeshwantpur terminals have reached the saturation point, said Akhil Agarwal, Divisional Railway Manager, Bangalore. Though Bangalore City Railway Station is also proposed to be upgraded to world-class status, Byappanahalli will be taken up first, he added. Byappanahalli is a Greenfield station and developing it will be easy, he noted.

For developing the Bangalore City Railway Station, the Railways requires adjacent land that belongs to Binny Mills.
Circular railway

To a query on the Railways providing circular railway service for Bangalore city utilising the existing track network and building some more, Mr. Muniyappa said the Ministry has been watching the infrastructure development in the city.

“We have been watching and studying the public transport scenario in Bangalore. I’ll not make any commitment at present but definitely we are at it,” he said.

Asked whether the Railway Board has decided not to take up any new suburban railway project, Mr. Muniyappa said he was not aware of any such decision.