Tracking Bangalore-Hassan direct rail line project

I and my friend went for joy ride towards newly laid four lane along NH-48 on 12-Feb-2012. In mid of journey my friend recalled the Bangalore-Hassan rail line construction project that is under progress. The project currently has stopped near Solur which is 18 kms from Nelamangala. From Bangalore to Nelamangala the rail line is already in place.

JALAHALLI CROSS ELEVATED HIGHWAY

4 LANED NELAMANGALA-MANGALORE HIGHWAY

Let me brief on the project. Bangalore to Hassan has multiple rail routes. However all of them are lengthy routes. The first one is via Mysore and the other one via Tumkur. The road way is direct route via Nelamangala and Kunigal. The Bangalore-Hassan direct rail line project is also on the same lines as road to connect Hassan in a shortest path. The rail path from Shravanabelagola to Hassan is completed while from Nelamangala to Shravanabelagola new rail line has to be laid out.

So what is the use? This basically gives faster rail access to Mangalore. The journey from Bangalore to Mangalore will be matter of 7-8 hrs. Current time duration is 12hrs via Mysore and 10-11hrs via Tumkur. Faster access to port city means, faster goods transport. This also saves money for railways as well as vendors who directly or indirectly depend on port facilities. It also saves time for people who are commuting en-route. This also reduces congestion along Tumkur as well as Mysore rail links. The section of rail line is also highly profitable since it connects port city and capital city in faster manner. Also the fares are very minimal in railways.

What is the progress? As per railways standard! Lethargic, as always. The progress is only in terms of earth work and that too some patch work in between. We saw that there was no progress after Solur except awkward dig-up. Some of the works in between like a bridge near Nelamangala is still not complete. Also in most of the places the civil equipments were not seen. Here are some pictures of the project.

ABANDONED WORK NEAR SOLUR

RAIL LINE RUNS PARALLEL TO NH-75 NEAR SOLUR

Only in some areas civil work was progressing. The work is not even properly commenced from Nelamangala. It is really sad that railways is so much lethargic on this new rail line. South-Westrern railway is one of the profit making division under railways and even then railways is giving a step-motherly treatment to this line.

COMPLETED EARTH WORK NEAR SOLUR

ONE MORE VIEW OF COMPLETED WORK

WE RODE ALONG THE RAIL LINE

MINOR BRIDGE

ABANDONED WORK

CIVIL WORK NEAR LAKE PROGRESSING

Why is this? There are basically few main points

1) Bus-Lobby: The major show-stopper is bus lobby. There are hundreds of buses running from Bangalore to coastal areas of Karnataka. If a direct train runs, it will have large impact on their business.

2) Land-acquisition: This can be major hurdle too. However railways do not require much area other than stations. It can be sorted out amicably unless residential areas occur in between.

3) Political-Influence: The people representatives of the entire region also seemed to have no interest on the project. This may be direct influence of (1) stated above. It is also believed that some are owners of buses too which makes it impossible to have their attention.

4) Funding: Railways are not funding properly too. Every year project cost is increasing however the fund allocated is far too less for the project. This is again direct result of (3) which is related to (1)

5) Lack of Interest: People or press also seemed to have interest in these matters. The press which always breaks unnecessary news never bothers to broadcast people friendly reports. If at all the press had an active role, the project would have completed far early.

When will the project be commissioned? As per the current progress, it may take more than 50 years!! People will have to really come forward to accelerate the project. While coming back we were very much annoyed to see the progress. We went along some of the rail paths too. The earth work seems to be good however has seen many rainy days since it was completed (we could see long grasses). Some rail lines are very close to NH-48. This is also bad idea keeping in mind that future the path may be 6-laned [Forget doubling of rail line :-)]

Thanks to smart phone of my friend because of which we could access even corner roads and locations using google maps. That really helps if you have healthy mobile network in the area. The maps guided properly along state highway as well as in village roads along the construction path. We did not take any help from villagers for traversing the path. The google map is pretty much accurate and up to date!