Double railway line between Bengaluru-Mysuru opens for traffic

The 138 km double Bengaluru-Mysuru railway line has been finally opened for traffic after it got delayed by 10 years due to some issues. This new route in the southern region of Karnataka will be utilised for operating passenger, goods and express trains. To accommodate the twin tracks, the railways also built new bridges.

An official of the Southern Western Railway (SWR) told news reporters, “Completion of the 1.7 km stretch at Srirangapatna has enabled us to open the 138.3 km double line between Bengaluru and Mysore for operating express, passenger and goods trains on the route in the state’s southern region”. The official further added that work is in progress to complete electrification of the remaining 39 km stretch between Yeliyur and Mysuru so that the travelling speed of all the trains are increased and also more trains are able to operate to meet the rising demand of travel between the two cities.

This ambitious project got delayed by 10 years as the railway authorities had to reallocate the armoury of the 18th-century Mysuru ruler Tipu Sultan, which was located on the 1.7 km stretch near the Kaveri Bridge at Srirangapatna. A railway official further added, “The archaeological protected monument (armoury) was translocated by the US-based Wolfe House Building Movers in March”.
The 1.7 km stretch was inspected by the commissioner of Railway Safety on November 6, which then authorised the SWR to start operating the service. The delay even escalated the cost of building the route to INR 991 crore (INR 7.2 crore per km); the state government however shared the cost as part of its contribution. Further, steps are being taken to electrify the entire route so that the running time is reduced between the official capital of the state and its cultural capital.