Question : Quadrupling of CantonmentWhitefield Railway Line

(a) whether the Railways has sanctioned any amount for quadrupling of the Bengaluru cantonment-Whitefield railway line which is pending for over 20 years;

(b) if so, the details thereof and the amount sanctioned for the same;

(c) whether the required land has been acquired by the railways and what is the estimated time to complete the project to facilitate the convenience of people of Bengaluru and if so, the details thereof;

(d) whether the Railways is considering additional trains on the Baiyappanahalli-Whitefield route due to the traffic snarls faced by the commuters due to metro work; and

(e) if so, the details thereof?

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

(SHRI RAJEN GOHAIN)

(a) to (e): A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.
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STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (e) OF UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2493 BY SHRI P.C. MOHAN TO BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 26.12.2018 REGARDING QUADRUPLING OF CANTONMENT-WHITEFIELD RAILWAY LINE

(a) to (c): Bangalore-Krishnarajapuram-Whitefield Quadrupling project was included in the Budget 1997-98 subject to requisite clearances. On this project, work of 3rd& 4th line between Bangalore Cantonment-Whitefield has been sanctioned in March, 2018 at a cost of ` 492.87 crore. An expenditure of ` 0.07 crore has been incurred upto March, 2018 and an outlay of ` 6 crore has been provided during the current year 2018-19.
Land acquisition documents for 1320 sqm have been submitted to Authorities in the Government of Karnataka in August 2018. So far, no land is handed over to Railways by the State Government.
Execution/completion of this project depends on acquisition of land and shifting of various utility services etc. Therefore, it is not feasible to give fixed time line for completion of this project.

(d) and (e): Baiyappanahalli-Whitefield sector is presently being served by 15 pair of train services. To further supplement the needs of the sector, two pair of special train services viz. 06593/06594 Baiyappanahalli-Whitefield Special and 06567/06568 Baiyappanahalli-Whitefield Special trains are presently being operated.
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