Modi inaugurates suburban rail project ‘to decongest Bengaluru’

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday laid the foundation for the long-delayed suburban rail system in Bengaluru, stating that the project, which has been in discussion for over 40 years, will be implemented in just around 40 months.

During his visit to the city, Modi said that the project and efforts to synergise multi-modal transport in Bengaluru would rid the city of its traffic jams by using rail, road, metro, underpass, flyover and all other infrastructure to decongest one of the highest traffic density regions in the world.

“I was told that from 1980 there have been discussions to connect nearby locations of Bengaluru by rail. Forty years have gone by in discussions, and now you tell me the situation. I want to tell the brothers and sisters of Karnataka that I will work for 40 months to fulfil your dreams,” Modi said.

He added that the project was also entangled in files for the last 16 years and had the suburban rail come up in time, “Bengaluru would have achieved far greater things”.

The statements come at a time when Bengaluru has been consistently ranked at the top as one of the most congested cities in the world with around 10 million vehicles for a population of over 12 million, according to government estimates.

“Today is the day that deserves to be written in golden letters in the development history of the state. The suburban rail project was in limbo for a long time. The Prime Minister has put it on the path of reality. The project would provide a commuting connection for the people from the heart of the city to various areas in the outskirts in all four directions,” Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai said on Monday.

“A Multi-modal Logistic Park will come up in Tamakuru. This will connect five states. The work on the Satellite Town Ring Road from Dabaspet and Old Madras Road has also been launched. All these projects would help in reducing the traffic congestion in Bengaluru,” Bommai said.

The suburban rail, when commissioned, will have a capacity to carry over 1 million passengers daily at affordable rates. The total route length of 148.17 km will be built at a cost of ₹15,767 crore through a combination of project financing and land

monetisation. There will be 57 new stations and almost 60% of the places will have multi-modal connectivity.

With the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP, the city’s civic body) polls likely to be held later this year, the announcements made on the suburban rail project and other infrastructure works would help the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) better its chances at gaining power in the corporation, according to people aware of the developments.

On Monday, Congress Leader of Opposition and former chief minister Siddaramaiah demanded to know if the Prime Minister-led union government had released its share of the funds for the suburban rail project.

“Union government shall have to provide 20% of the cost to implement Bengaluru Sub-Urban rail project. Has the Modi government released 20% of the project cost, or is this just for optics ahead of assembly elections?” Siddaramaiah said in a post on Twitter with the #AnswerMadiModi