Bengaluru: The railway board had sanctioned the doubling of tracks between Byappanahalli and Hosur in 2018/19. But almost eight years down the line, the project is yet to be completed and has already incurred Rs 190 crore more than what was originally planned.The 48km long project was handed over to the Rail Infrastructure Development Company (Karnataka) Limited (K-Ride), the implementing agency of the suburban rail project, in 2020. Since then, the project has struggled to pick up, with only 14km (30%) commissioned so far.Initially, the railways had sanctioned the project with an estimated cost of Rs 498.7 crore. It also involved the revamping of four railway stations along the route. As of April 30, K-Ride spent Rs 688.8 crore. While the costs have significantly escalated from the original plan, considerable work still remains in the project.According to K-Ride, the cost has escalated as several initial plans were altered keeping long-term benefits in mind. “Initially, there was only one loop line. Then we thought of providing more loop lines and more facilities at every station. We thought of providing better facilities in the new stations rather than renovating them later on, which might cost much more,” K-Ride managing director Lakshman Singh told TOI.He also pointed out that the newly commissioned stations, part of the project, have got better facilities than what were initially mooted. While all four stations, including Bellandur Road and Huskur, have been commissioned, two major bridges, a rail over-bridge, two minor bridges and an 18km track lining are still to be completed.As much as 9.7km of track between Byappanahalli and Bellandur Road, along with 24.5km between Heelalige and Hosur are incomplete. With the Heelalige-Hosur section set to be completed by the end of the year, officials say that the full commissioning might have to wait till early 2027, with Feb likely to be the deadline. According to South Western Railway (SWR), the commissioning will happen in three phases.Despite it not being included in the initial project plan, K-Ride is constructing a rail over-bridge at Chandapura with a six-lane national highway running under it. Officials revealed that the bridge is being built without any additional financial support.Justifying the increased spending, Singh said the project is executed with a long term plan. “Whatever assets are getting created will last for hundreds of years”, he clarified.