Railways minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Saturday introduced that the Ministry of Railways would introduce a direct practice service connecting Kempegowda Worldwide Airport with Bengaluru.
An aerial view exhibits the Namma Metro practice of Bengaluru Metro Rail Company Restricted (BMRCL), driving over a flyover in Bengaluru.(AFP)
Nevertheless, he additionally talked about that some technical challenges have to be addressed earlier than the service might be launched, and the Railway staff is actively working to resolve these points.
Vaishnaw highlighted the airport’s present connectivity, which incorporates metro rail, street, and suburban railway techniques, reminiscent of Okay-RIDE, managed by the Rail Infrastructure Growth Firm (Okay-RIDE) in Bengaluru.
Okay-RIDE is a completely owned three way partnership between the central and state governments for working the suburban rail system.
“Apart from Metro Rail, road, and K-RIDE, we are also working on creating a railway connection to the airport,” Vaishnaw was quoted by PTI as saying.
He additionally spoke about his latest practice journey between the airport and the town. “It was a comfortable 40 to 45-minute ride. However, there were some technical issues, particularly the need for a rail flyover. The team has now completed the necessary work and presented the concept to me today. I will share it with you soon. This will bring significant relief to the people,” the minister added.
On the suburban railway venture, Vaishnaw expressed concern in regards to the state authorities’s dealing with of the venture, mentioning the dearth of technical experience, together with the absence of a full-time managing director from its railway technical cadre.
‘State and Centre should work in a synchronised’
Vaishnaw confused the necessity for fast growth of the metro and suburban networks in Bengaluru, which has a inhabitants of 1.5 crore.
“It’s a very large city, and we need to rapidly expand metro and suburban rail networks. The state and Centre must work in a synchronised manner,” PTI quoted the minister as saying.
Vaishnaw talked about that every time he reviewed the progress of the Okay-RIDE venture, the foremost challenge was the dearth of technically certified personnel. “The major challenge has always been the shortage of technical personnel. I will request the state government to appoint a full-time managing director from the Railway technical cadre. Without this, progress will be slow,” he added.
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‘State govt’s execution of venture not assembly public expectations’: Vaishnaw
He expressed disappointment with the venture’s progress, saying, “It is truly concerning that the state government’s execution of this project is not meeting public expectations. The people have high hopes, and to fulfil them, we need a strong technical team.”
Vaishnaw additionally insisted that along with appointing a full-time managing director, the state ought to rent no less than 12-13 certified technical personnel in areas reminiscent of electrical engineering, civil engineering, and signalling. “We will propose this to the state government. If they agree, we will assign railway officers to K-RIDE to help expedite the process,” he confirmed.
He added that the central authorities is offering the required funding, so monetary constraints shouldn’t be an issue.
Vaishnaw additionally famous that tenders for practice units (rolling inventory) had failed 3 times. “I conducted a detailed review this morning, and now we are proposing that the Railways will supply the trains for the Bengaluru suburban rail project,” he stated.
He criticised Okay-RIDE’s method to structuring the tenders for practice procurement. “Railways is a highly technical field. Since K-RIDE is state-run, the tender was structured as a Public-Private Partnership (PPP), where a private entity would supply the trains and be paid for them over several years. This approach does not work well in the metro and railway sectors,” he defined.