KRIDE hastens doubling of Baiyappanahalli-Hosur rail line
Work on the doubling of the Baiyappanahalli-Hosur line has gathered pace with KRIDE set to commission this section of the rail line in the next three months, and sets up a commissioning deadline of March 2023 for the Baiyappanahalli-Bellandur section. It may be recalled that the Union government sanctioned the doubling project in 2018 but the work was delayed due to the state government's change of stance over funding the project and later, the railways handed over the project to the Rail Infrastructure Development Company-Karnataka (KRIDE) two years ago and decided to commission the doubling in phases, which will help the railways in facilitating the smooth operation of trains, said Managing Director, KRIDE, Amit Garg, adding that they are going to commission a 12-km section Heelalige and Carmelram within the next two to three months. The Baiyappanahalli-Bellandur will be ready by March next year and the remaining section will be completed as per the schedule. KRIDE, which plans to open the full length of the line in early 2024, has recently invited tenders for the construction of a station building, and platforms at some places. This includes a new 'Uskur' station, which seeks to revive a forgotten station near Huskur. Officials said Huskur station will be part of the Indian Railway network while the new stations will be developed under the Bengaluru Suburban Rail Project (BSRP), which includes the Heelalige-Rajanakunte route under Corridor 4. In fact, tenders have been called for preliminary works on Corridor 4 which includes 20 stations. The BSRP also includes a provision to extend the corridor up to Doddaballapura or Gauribidanur in the north and up to Hosur in the south.
