Indian Railways would soon turn over land for the Bengaluru suburban rail project, according to Union Minister of Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw. During an interactive session here, Vaishnaw spoke to reporters and said: “The Bengaluru suburban rail project has previously been examined more than three times by me. A few adjustments were needed. In a few days, we will turn the site over to K-RIDE, the special purpose vehicle that is carrying out the project.”

The Byappanahalli-Yeshwantpur-Chikkabanavara-Mallige line, a 25-km corridor, was the only one for which a civil works tender was invited after the Bengaluru suburban railway project received approval from the Centre in October 2020. This is in spite of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s pledge to complete the project, which had been delayed for 40 years, in 40 months. There are four corridors in the project.

L&T acquired the Mallige Line contract in March 2022, although a work order wasn’t put in place until August 2022. However, the company was unable to start the project since the railways failed to transfer the 91 acres needed for this line. According to Vaishnaw, Bengaluru needs suburban services similar to those in Mumbai, which are used by more than 85 lakh passengers daily. “We are currently working on a world-class suburban system for Bengaluru with contemporary coaches at a lower cost, on the lines of Mumbai suburban rail,” he continued.

In response to a question on operating Vande Bharat trains on the Bengaluru-Chennai route at Shatabdi speeds, he said, “To increase speed, we must expand the capacity of the track. We are currently trying to gradually increase the average speed from the current 70-80 kmph to 110 kmph, 130 kmph, and finally 160 kmph.” Vaishnaw claimed that efforts are also being made to create the “world class” Vande Metro, which will include better designs than the trains in use today. He said that they would introduce the first hydrogen-powered train by December 2023. “These new trains will be used for suburban services and trains that were developed in the 1960s and 1970s will be replaced,” he added