Welcoming Railway Minister M. Mallikarjun Kharge’s announcement about the setting up of the Bangalore Rail Vikas Corporation, Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, professor and Congress member Rajeev Gowda said that only a public movement in its favour will push this ambitious but vital public transport project.

This is a significant step towards the setting up of the suburban rail network which will help connect the city to seven nearby towns and areas including Mandya, Tumkur and Bangarpet, Mr. Gowda said. He was speaking at a press conference organised jointly by him and the public transport advocacy group Praja, which has been actively lobbying for the project.

The setting up of the Bangalore Rail Vikas Corporation, along the lines of the Maharashtra Rail Vikas Corporation — the only other suburban rail corporation that is delinked from the Indian railways — paves the way for speedy implementation, said Sathya Sankaran, member of Praja. He added that the project is to be funded in a 50:50 partnership between the State and Union government. “It will also mean significant benefits for Indian Railways as it will involve modernising the signalling system (to increase train frequency), among other improvements,” he explained.

Mr. Gowda said that the Namma Railu would provide affordable public transport for those living inside the city and for those residing in the suburbs. “Its social benefits include creation of new industrial clusters outside Bangalore, connecting towns and hamlets around Bangalore and helping farmers market products directly. A study shows that the Bengaluru suburban rail, with a capacity of 1.5 lakh commuters per day, will result in 50,000 less cars on roads. We have been lobbying for this since 2009, so Saturday’s announcement is significant,” he explained.

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-karnataka/suburban-rail-needs-public-will/article5683125.ece

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Mr. Shettar said that the high expectations of the people that Mr. Kharge would provide justice to his home State had been belied.

It was old wine in a new bottle as Mr. Kharge tried to present already announced schemes as new ones, Mr. Shettar said.

He accused the Railways Minister of failing to implement his assurance to the State that he would set up Bangalore Railway Vikas Corporation and take steps for the speedy completion of projects languishing for more than a decade.

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-karnataka/bjp-accuses-kharge-of-belying-states-hopes/article5683160.ece

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Improved infrastructure and less time spent stuck in traffic is good news for any City. And after a long convoluted wait, Bangalore’s dream of suburban rail network is finally under active consideration. 

In June 2012, RITES Ltd (Rail India Technical and Economic Services Limited) came out with a report on ‘Implementing Commuter Rail Service (CRS) in Bangalore’, which emphasised the need for a mass public transport system on the lines of the local trains in Mumbai, Chennai and Hyderabad. The report argued that CRS would enable the fastest travel option covering 70-100 kms in 1-1.5 hours and that on completion, it would have the capacity to carry 25 lakh commuters a day.

Recently, Minister for Railways M Mallikarjun Kharge acknowledged this report and said that the government will look into its feasibility and ascertain how the project will be funded and what the cost-sharing between the Union and State government would be. 

Activists for the CRS have a strong case — the service will not require the construction of new rail lines but merely the improvement of the existing railway infrastructure. Sanjeev V Dyamannavar, a member of Praja RAAG and a leading advocate of CRS, explains, “One suburban rail replaces 300 cars or 20 buses on the road. All we need to do is create better platforms, upgrade to automatic signalling and ensure that least time is spent in criss-crossing of trains at terminals. The investment will benefit the railways either ways because out of the Rs 10,000 crore project over three phases, 58 per cent will be utilised by the railways towards the improvement of its own assets.”

Khader B Syed, Praja RAAG’s Namma Railu campaigner, adds, “There will be immense benefits that this project would bring to people living in Bangalore and the towns of Chikballapur, Dodballapur, Tumkur, Mandya, Ramanagram, Malur, Bangarpet and Hosur. Studies have shown that the most beneficial would be the lower middle class and poorer sections of society, who live in these towns and suburbs.”

Pranav Jha, also from Praja RAAG, emphasises that CRS would require new stations as well as improved connectivity for existing ones. “For example, a station at Marathahalli would help connect places like Whitefield or Brookfield to the City with ease, while improved bus connectivity to the nearby Belandur Road Railway Station can help connect job centres around Outer Ring Road. Some of the other proposed corridors within the City include stations at Hebbal, Banaswadi, Malleswaram, Yelahanka, Devanahalli, Doddaballapur and Baiyyappanahalli,” he shares.

Pranav feels that due to bureaucracy and lack of clear ownership of this project, it’s nearly impossible to start and sustain the CRS without a nodal agency. “Indian Railways has always been reluctant to invest in an intra-city commuter services because these are seen as loss-making ventures. While the Directorate of Urban Land Transport (DULT) is supporting the project in terms of advocacy, it is not mandated to do the funding or inter-agency coordination, which is required to make CRS successful. This is why we need a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) which brings together the railways, state government and enables integrations with authorities like the BMTC and BMRCL,” he adds.

DULT commissioner V Manjula informs that the process to form this nodal agency has begun. “We’ve applied to register the name as per the Companies Act and submitted the required documents to the registrar. We will function as a much-needed nodal agency as soon as we get the sanction,” she says. However, Kharge has only given the go-ahead for the agency, tentatively named ‘Bangalore Rail Vikas Corporation’. 

It’s only a matter of time before the proposal is actually executed and the State and Centre join forces to make this dream a reality.

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/386730/out-track-now.html

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Bangalore City: RPC Layout Proposed construction of rail level 
platform 450 x 6 Mtr (900 Mtr 20 coaches) for Up & Dn line with 
booking office and Toilet facilities 

Cost Rs 1.01 Crore

http://www.swr.indianrailways.gov.in/TenderDetails_cpp.jsp?T_ID=2363&lang=0&id=0,3

Finally some developments for new halt stations in Bangalore. Similarly we need at Devanhalli near BIAL airport.

All these are part of Commuter Rail Bangalore / Suburban Rail.  Will Railway minister has open eye to see how these are done without the Suburban rail.

Good that West of Chord and RPC layout people will be more benefitted.

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Three things which stand out from Mr. Kharge's remarks

1. We require 10,000 crores for CRS

2. We need to do feasibility study to see if CRS can sustain

3. We will create a Railway Vikas Nigam

1. Why is he looking at costs which are required to complete phase 3?.  Besides, from the comments above, the major costs are doubling, electrification and procurement of Rakes which can be easily done through PPP model

Doubling and electrification work is for all trains and why are they adding to only CRS?.  also,

the doubling work has been done by PPP model in many places similar to the road network.  the partner coompany will do the doubling and collect fee from the trains which pass on it.  the fee should be paid by both CRS and Railways as their trains also use the lines.

Rakes can be rented, sponsored or procured in Exchange for the Advertisement contracts.  

Stations can be JV basis allowing JV partner to build on top of the station for offices etc.

Investment should be such that there is minimal capital cost to start the operation and the CRS entity is not burdened with the loans and interest payments which will force the increase in ticket prices and make it expensive for commuters.  

the 2 and 3 points are b***S*** tactics to play politics.  Mr. Kharge and Congress may not be back to power and if he takes decision on the CRS now, the benefit goes to the state government (you know his relations with Siddhu) and he does not get anything.  his constituency somewhere in north karntaka will not appreciate the things he does for Bangalore so he has to run a useless trains for north karntaka and earn browny points for the next election and he has nothing to gain here.  Infact, Central government has nothing to gain as they cannot take credit for announcing CRS as that is all they can do before the elections. 

I am skeptical about this railway minister doing something and if the centre government changes, I am sure we will go back to zero.  

three things should happen immediately 

1. We should form a Commuter Association for Bangalore and surrounding areas and show our strength.  if the substantial number are there, then things will happen quickly as we will become 'vote bank' (for lack of better word).

2. as commuter association, we Should be part of the JV.  which has to be tripartite to safeguard our interests.  

3. Once the JV is formed and we are inside, then there are host of options available for investment, grants donations what ever to make it work.

just to give you an example, through UNFCCC and Rio+20, the countries have agreed to set aside around USD 171 Billion for sustainable transportation (especially for Urban transportation)  it is possible to tap all sources. 

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three things which stand out from Mr. Kharge's remarks

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