#DecodingBudget: Jaitley announces 160-km suburban rail network for Bengaluru
Finance minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday gave nod to the long pending demand of suburban rail project in Bengaluru while announcing the Union Budget 2018. He announced a sum of Rs. 17,000 crore towards the 160-km suburban rail network. However, he did not provide the cost details. Earlier too, the project was mentioned in the budget by Sadananda Gowda as the Railway Minister.
Project will cater to the growth of Bengaluru metropolis
The finance minister said that the project will, "cater to the growth of the Bengaluru metropolis." The announcement was made just a day after the state cabinet approved of investing 20% of the total project cost of Rs. 1,745 crore over the next two years. According to reports, the project will be partially elevated within core areas of the city.
As of now, 58 trains will provide their services
As per a report, in the Bengaluru network, 58 trains will be offering 116 services. Railway officials said, "Each of these trains will have the capacity of carrying 1,800 to 2,000 passengers." Soon after this, Union Minister Ananthkumar thanked PM Modi and FM Jaitley for the support and tweeted, "My fight for suburban rail for Bengaluru these 21 years is closer to reality now."
