The big-ticket high-speed rail link to the Bengaluru International Airport has been given a quiet burial.
The Rs 4,000-crore high-speed rail connectivity to BIA from MG Road, the only alternative to the road, was proposed in 2007. The government had even floated the Bengaluru Airport Rail Link Corporation (BARC) to implement the project. Five years after setting up the corporation and spending crores of rupees in preparing detailed project report and running the offices, the project has been forgotten.
Ironically, though BARC exists with senior civil servants, it is not doing anything connected with the project. A top official in the secretariat told Deccan Chronicle that BARC is working on light rail and mono rail proposals, defeating the very purpose of setting up the body. “On the instructions of state government, the entire project was handed over to Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation a year ago. BARC is alive only in name. We have nothing to do with the project”,' he said.
BMRC chief N. Sivasailam said that after taking over the project, he prepared a report on feasibility of the project, which was sent it to the Urban Development Department. “All I can say is, it is up to the government to take a call on the project. We did a techno-feasibility study on the high speed rail project and it is now before the UDD secretary. We have made some changes, but we cannot disclose the details”,' he told this newspaper.
However, sources privy to the development in the secretariat made some startling revelations. “BMRC wants a Metro connectivity to the airport. It has in its report said it is not possible to implement high speed rail cutting across the city as it would criss-cross the Metro Rail alignment. A dedicated Metro service could be more feasible from Hebbal to BIA. Hebbal can be the transport hub making it a multi-modal transport centre. In other words, we can say that the high speed rail link has been scrapped, or at least that is what has been suggested by the BMRC”,' sources said.
The BARC had in its DPR suggested check-in facility at MG Road and Hebbal and had envisaged a 25-minute ride to BIA with trains running every 10 minutes. The state government had proposed the project after coming under severe criticism over setting up BIA 40 km from the city without providing connectivity except for the Bellary Road
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