Petition for Bengaluru Suburban Rail Service submitted to Kharge

Bangalore, Feb 11: A petition for the speedy implementation of the Bengaluru Suburban Rail Service (Namma Railu), was submitted to Union Minister of Railways Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday by Professor MV Rajeev Gowda, the founder of Bengaluru Needs You, in association with IIM-B, Centre for Public Policy, Directorate of Urban Land Transport (DULT) and Praja RAAG.

On the day of inauguration at Banaswadi railway station, forty elected representatives of Bengaluru Suburban Rail Catchment Area signed the petition.

The petition comprised of three demands - in-principle approval for the Bengaluru Suburban Rail Service from Ministry of Railways, approval of 50% stake holding agreement in the Special Purpose Vehicle(SPV) being set up for implementation of the project, between Ministry of Railways and Government of Karnataka and Implementation of Phase-1A of the Bengaluru Suburban Rail Service.

Prof Gowda thanked Kharge for his gesture and said,"We will continue to put pressure on the State and the Central Government to implement this much needed Suburban Rail Project.

"The Namma Railu fits well with Bangalore-Chennai Corridor and the Golden Quadrilateral and will be a win win situation for all- the state, the city, commuters and the Railways." Sathya Sankaran, member of Praja RAAG said.

"The Minister has already allocated funds for many projects around Bangalore dedicated to upgrading the infrastructure and Namma Railu is the next logical step", he said.

About Namma Railu

Namma Railu will result in 50,000 less cars on roads.

Namma Railu would provide affordable public transport for those living inside the city and for those residing in the suburbs. It will effectively connect the towns and hamlets around Bengaluru and trigger growth and development of the entire region, including the farmers.

Namma Railu will have many social, economic and environmental benefits.

A study showed that the Bengaluru Suburban Rail with a capacity of 1.5 lakh commuters per day will result in 50,000 less cars on roads.

It will also improve access to centres of education, health care, recreation, industries and business, benefitting all sections of society.

Since 2009, Prof Gowda and Praja have been spearheading the cause of Namma Railu project.

Last year, Mr Siddaramaiah, Chief Minister of Karnataka included it in the State Budget for implementation. The Government of Karnataka also issued an order to set up Bengaluru Suburban Rail Company as Special Purpose Vehicle and mandated RITES to prepare DPR for Phase- I of the project.

Here are some pics of the programme:

In pics: Union Railway Minister Mallikarjun Kharge

Union Railway Minister Mallikarjun Kharge and Prof MV Rajeev Gowda with the petition.

In pics: Union Railway Minister Mallikarjun Kharge

Union Railway Minister Mallikarjun Kharge along with Professor MV Rajeev Gowda, the founder of Bengaluru Needs You.

In pics: Union Railway Minister Mallikarjun Kharge

Prof Gowda explaining to railway minister Mallikarjun Kharge.

In pics: Union Railway Minister Mallikarjun Kharge

Workshop organised at Vidhan Soudha for elected representatives by Prof MV Rajeev Gowda, Dult and Praja.

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