Work on high-speed rail link to begin in July

Work on high-speed rail link to begin in July

Senthalir S. Bangalore



The project work on the much-hyped High-Speed Rail Link (HSRL) that would take you from MG Road to Bangaluru International Airport (BIA) in just 25 minutes will finally begin in July 2010.
V Madhu, principal secretary, infrastructure development department, said the bids will be finalised by June 2010. The companies shortlisted for the project are Tata, Larsen & Toubro (L&T), Lanco, ICM and Reliance.
"The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Limited (DMRCL) submitted the revised Detailed Project Report (DPR) to the state government on Thursday," he said. Madhu revealed the HSRL details on the sidelines of a meeting with Union minister for road transport and highways Kamal Nath, organised by Bangalore Chamber of Industry and Commerce. Madhu said the project got delayed because of the delay in submitting the DPR.
The DPR was prepared in 2007, but required revision due to technical glitches pertaining to the Air Force station in Yelahanka, BIA terminal, and the series of magic box underpasses built along Bellary Road. The issue of HSRL criss-crossing the BIA terminal has been addressed in the revised version. Also, the earlier planned elevated HSRL near Yelahanka was seen to be posing a technical problem.
The Air Force station has heavy electronic equipment, which could have suffered electromagnetic disruptions due to the 25Kv power lines of the HSRL if the line was an elevated one.
"The changes have been incorporated in the revised DPR. Now the HSRL would go underground near Yelahanka, while it will be elevated to about 18 metres near the Hebbal flyover. However, the actual standard is 10 metres. The HSRL also has to negotiate around the magic box underpasses constructed along NH-7 (Bellary Road)," he said.