Zip to Devanahalli in 25 minutes flat

Zip to Devanahalli in 25 minutes flat

High Speed Rail Link to Bengaluru international airport put on fast track, will be ready by 2013

Srikanth Hunasavadi. Bangalore



No traffic snarls. No endless waiting at signals. Zip all the way to the Bengaluru International Airport (BIA) in 25 minutes flat.
Well, this is no stuff straight out of some futuristic fiction. Chief minister BS Yeddyurappa has resolved to turn this into a reality by implementing the High Speed Rail Link (HSRL) to BIA in three years.
Yeddyurappa met officials of the infrastructure department on Monday and decided that the HSRL project would be put on fast track to complete it by 2013. Five companies were shortlisted to execute it and a final decision in this regard would be taken in the next cabinet meeting. Details of the earmarked land to be acquired has also been sent to the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board for approval.
"In view of the upcoming Global Investors' Meet, we are speeding up infrastructure projects like Metro, Monorail and HSRL. We will issue a Request for Proposal by next month, and the agreement will be finalised by August," Yeddyurappa said.
"The state will contribute Rs533 crore for the 34-km, Rs6,900-crore HSRL project. The private partner will bring in the remaining amount," said V Madhu, secretary, infrastructure.
He said that Reliance Infrastructure Ltd and CSR Nanjing Puzhen Rolling Stock Co Ltd; L&T Transco Ltd; ITD-ITD CEM Joint Venture (Italian-Thai Development Public Co Ltd and ITD Cementation India Ltd); Pioneer Infratech Pvt Ltd and Siemens Project Ventures Gmbh, Lanco Infratech Ltd and OHL Concesiones SL were shortlisted for the commercial bidding. "We have given them a detailed project report, draft agreement and specifications. The agreement will be finalised by August, and ground work will begin three to six months after that. The project will take off by February 2011, and will be completed in 33 months," Madhu said.
On the introduction of suburban rail services, for which the state had earmarked Rs500 crore, Yeddyurappa said that he would meet railway minister Mamata Banerjee next month and convince her to implement the project at the earliest.