The Bengaluru Suburban Rail Project

The Karnataka government initially planned to construct a quick rail system in 1983. It is a permitted plan consisting of a 149.348 km commuter train network with 64 stops in Bangalore, Karnataka. Through the construction of a rail-based rapid-transit system, Bengaluru will be connected to its satellite townships, suburbs, and neighboring rural regions. After so many years, the project has finally kick started with the state government ready to start the proceedings. 

The project was approved for construction by India’s Central Government in October 2020. The State and Union administrations in Bengaluru were forced to accept the city's suburban rail project as a result of offline and online activities run by people and rail activists in the region. Its foundation stone was laid on June 20, 2022, by India’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi. The much anticipated project is expected to finish by the end of 2026 with an estimate around Rs.15,767 crores. It will be India’s most integrated rail project ever. 

The Bengaluru Suburban Rail Project: Explained

The Bengaluru Suburban Rail Project is one of the oldest dreams of the Karnataka Government. Since it was initially put up in 1983, the Bengaluru Suburban Rail Project (BSRP) has been a goal of numerous Karnataka administrations. An experienced group from the former Southern Railway, which now administers Bengaluru, initially recommended the idea, which they thought would span 58 kilometers. It will be a humongous network of railways connecting the major metro cities inside Bengaluru. The plan was therefore presented as a component of the first Transportation Survey of Karnataka, which had been ordered by the then-chief minister R Gundu Rao.

The project is finally put into action which interlinks the major urban areas of Bangalore. Through the construction of a rapid train line infrastructure, Bengaluru will be connected to its outlying cities, neighborhoods, and adjoining rural regions. This would be helpful for all the daily travelers across Bangalore. Large number of travelers from remote and urban areas will be equipped to transit better, quicker, and more comfortably because of the air-conditioned, subway trains that are anticipated to operate throughout the route, according to authorities. The basic objective of the venture to connect Bengaluru city with its suburban areas remains the same, despite the fact that several plans for it have evolved over time.

The project is approved by the government of Karnataka with conceiving and executing responsibilities of the rail project given to the Rail Infrastructure Development Company, Karnataka (K-RIDE), a joint venture between the governments of Karnataka and the Union Ministry of Railways. Four corridors make up the construction at a cost of Rs.15,767 crore which is estimated to be completed by 2026. 

The Areas That Come under BSRP

The BSRP covers 148.17 kilometers across Bangalore with 57 stations across four corridors. It will be the largest span of rail network in the whole city with RITES preparing the expediency report and final draft of the project that includes four corridors. The rail system will comprise of some of the major outskirts in the Karnataka capital — towards Kengeri (Mysore side), Chikkabanavara (Tumkur side), Rajanukunte (Doddaballapur side), Devanahalli (Kolar side), Whitefield (Bangarapet side), and Heelalige.

Sampige (Champa), Mallige (Chameli), Parijata (Prajakta), and Kanaka (Priyardarsha) are the names of the four corridors, which are all named from significantly common flowers prevalent in and around Bengaluru. It's fascinating to note that the initial letters of these variants may be combined to form the Kannada word "Samparka," which indicates connectedness.

Corridor 1: Sampige Line

Corridor-1 or “Sampige” includes 15 stations that span across 41.40 kilometers connecting KSR Bengaluru City (Majestic) to Devanahalli.

Total Length of the route: 41.478 km

Pathway: KSR Bengaluru – Yelahanka – Devanahalli

Number of Stations: 15 (8 elevated & 7 at-grade)

Station Names: KSR Bengaluru City (interchange), Srirampura (future), Malleswaram, Yesvantpur (interchange), Muthyal Nagar, Lottegollahalli (interchange), Kodigehalli, Judicial Layout, Yelahanka, Nitte Meenakshi, Bettahalasur, Doddajala, Airport Trumpet, Airport Terminal, Airport KIADB, Devanahalli

Type: Elevated (19.22 km) & At-Grade (22.278 km)

Depot: Akkipet Depot

Corridor 2: Mallige Line

Corridor-2 or “Mallige”, consists of 14 stations that span across 25 kilometers connecting areas between Byappanahalli Terminal and Chikkabanavara. 

Total Length of the route: 24.866 km

Pathway: Baiyyappanahalli Terminal – Chikkabanavara

Number of Stations: 14 (6 elevated & 8 at-grade)

Station Names: Chikka Banavara, Byadarahalli, Shettyhalli, Jalahalli (future), Yesvantpur (interchange), Lottegollahalli (interchange), Hebbal, Kanaka Nagar, Nagawara, Kaveri Nagar (future), Banaswadi, Seva Nagar, Kasturi Nagar, Baiyappanahalli (interchange)

Type: Elevated (7.723 km) & At-Grade (17.143 km)

Depot: Jalahalli Depot

Corridor 3: Parijaata Line

Corridor-3 or “Parijata” will have 19 stations that span across a 35.52-kilometres long connecting area between Kengeri and Whitefield.

Total Length of the route: 35.52 km

Pathway: Kengeri – Whitefield

Number of Stations: 14 (4 elevated & 10 at-grade)

Station Names: Kengeri, RV College (future), Jnanabharati, Nayandahalli, Krishnadevaraya, Jagjeevanram Nagar, KSR Bengaluru City (interchange), Kumara Park, Bengaluru Cantt, Bengaluru East, Baiyapannahalli, Krishnarajapura, Hoodi, Whitefield

Type: Elevated (10.40 km) & At-Grade (25.12 km)

Depot: Jnanabharathi Depot

Corridor 4: Kanaka Line

Corridor-4 or “Kanaka” also consists of 19 stations that span across a 46.24-kilometre-long rail route connecting the Heelalige-Rajanukunte areas.

Total Length of the route: 46.285 km

Pathway: Heelalige – Rajankute

Number of Stations: 21 (2 elevated & 19 at-grade)

Station Names: Rajakunte, Muddana Halli, Yelahanka (interchange), Jakkur, Hegde Nagar, Thanisandra, Hennur, Horamavu, Channasandra, Benniganahalli (interchange), Kagadaspura, Doddanekundi, Marathahalli, Belandur Road, Carmelaram, Ambedkar Nagar, Huskur, Singena Agrahara (future), Bommasandra (future), Heelalige

Type: Elevated (8.049 km) & At-Grade (39.716 km)

Depot: Silkboard Depot

5 stations will serve as interchange stations – Bangalore City (1 & 3), Yesvantpur (1 & 2), Lottegollahalli (1 & 2), Yelahanka (1 & 4) and Benniganahalli (2 & 4)

The Motive behind Bengaluru SubUrban Rail Project

According to K-RIDE representatives, the BSRP is designed to guarantee connection, comfort, and an affordable journey to form healthy transportation. As a significant portion of the proposal's expenditures are being met using creative venture funding and site optimisation, it is also anticipated that the tickets will indeed be cost-effective. Additionally, numerous means of transportation will be integrated  and incorporated into Bengaluru's suburban rail network.

The officials have stated that passengers will be given the option to interchange their mode of journey at more that 60 per cent of their stations with other transportations like the Metro rail and Indian railways. Although it is anticipated that BSRP would serve 10 lakh travelers per day when it becomes operational, it will also prove to be a feasible transportation system that will mostly solve Bengaluru's transportation problems and lessen the city's carbon impact. 

To further support Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "Make in India" drive, K-RIDE wants to develop the terminals as interconnected business centers. According to the idea, each of these establishments will be known as a "Smart Station Hub." K-RIDE has plans to transform these 57 stations into a smart station hub in which parking, shopping and working can be done feasibly. According to K-RIDE authorities, these hubs are expected to be multi-story buildings that will sustain various enterprises, monetize plots of land near terminals, and also use the airspace for industrial business operation, and enable rail-to-rail, rail-to-metro, and rail-to-air changeover.

The Benefit of Bengaluru SubUrban Rail Project

The lack of connectivity between various forms of transportation and the lack of convenient entry spots were the torment of travelers as the town prepared for yet another public transit alternative. Travelers at Majestic have not yet discovered convenient base stations that link the metro, train station, and bus stops. The Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) planned to construct an intermodal bus terminal in Majestic to link all the different forms of transportation, which is still in progress.

Even though the Namma Metro has already been running through Yeshwantpur for a long period of time, the officials are still simply waiting to connect it to the local train station. These are the kind of difficulties that the people in Bangalore have been facing when it comes to inter city travel. Another illustration is the newly launched Sir M. Visvesvaraya Terminal, a cutting-edge airport-like building that cost the Railways 314 crore. The Namma Metro route will connect to the suburban network at numerous locations around the city, including Cantonment, Baiyappanahalli, and Hebbal under Phase III. 

Several sessions of discourse have taken place over the integration of multiple means of transportation. For instance, the Mallige suburban rail network will be interconnected to other forms of transportation at Yeshwantpur and Hebbal. The projected suburban rail network and other means of transportation, such as the metro, would support one another. Installing overpasses is critical to ensure smooth linkage between these transportations inside the city. The government intends on seamless travel across all the available modes of transport by creating a concatenation between them.

Even though the suburban rail network is limited to Bengaluru city boundaries, it may be expanded to accommodate additional passengers after the routes are functional. The route can be extended across the boundaries that are suggested in the first place. After the implementation of the project, the KSR Bengaluru-Devanahalli line may be stretched to Chikballapur, the Baiyappanahalli-Chikkabanavara line may be carried to Tumkur, the Kengeri-Whitefield line may also be stretched to Ramanagaram on the south-western side, and Malur/Bangarpet regions on the north-eastern side. The Heelalige-Rajankunte line might be expanded to Doddaballapur on the northern side and Hosur on the southern side.

The Progression of Bengaluru SubUrban Rail Project

The Bangalore SubUrban Rail Project will take place under the instructions of K-Ride in which they have divided it as Phase I and the rest. In the first phase they will start with construction of Corridor-2 or Mallige which connects a network that spans from Baiyappanahalli to Chikkabanavara. The rest of the three corridors — KSR Bengaluru to Devanahalli, Kengeri to Whitefield, and Heelalige to Rajankunte — will be taken for construction after the commencement of the first phase. 

The construction works will primarily begin from Banaswadi, Yeshwantpur and Hebbal. The Mallige corridor has a network of 25 km in which 14 stations are included. These stations will be designated throughout the construction along various points during the coalition. It is understood that 12 acres of personal property were being purchased under the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board, but K-RIDE previously owned the landholdings needed to carry out the operation. South Western Railway (SWR) had given permission had been requested for the layout, compatibility, as well as other features.