Reportedly decades after it was first proposed, a dedicated suburban railway service for bengaluru was approved by the Extended Railway Board (ERB) of the Indian Railways on Monday. Meanwhile the development was confirmed by bengaluru Central mp PC Mohan to TNM. He also said the Railway Board Chairman vinod kumar Yadav is also likely to fly down to bengaluru in the coming days to meet chief minister BS Yeddyurappa.
Furthermore the announcement comes after various citizen groups in the city persistently asked authorities to start the service as a solution to the city’s growing traffic problem, especially in the high density IT Corridor along the Outer Ring Road. Perhaps even in the run-up to the railway board meeting, there was a twitter campaign by bengaluru activists and cities like kolkata, mumbai and chennai already has suburban railway services.
Rajkumar Dugar, Convener of the NGO Citizens 4 Citizens, said “The service will benefit more than a crore people, not only those living in bengaluru but also those from nearby towns and villages who travel daily to the city and back. Moreover, this will also minimize vehicular pollution and congestion in the city”. Moreover Rajkumar added, “It now awaits the final clearance from the Union cabinet and we hope all our MPs will ensure quick approval and subsequent fast-tracking of this project.”
