Bengaluru Suburban Rail Will Reduce Road Traffic Load Drastically

Almost four decades after its conception and going through multiple revisions in the plan, the city’s suburban rail project has finally got a formal, foundational start with a total length of 148.17 km across four main corridors.
The works have officially commenced with the Prime Minister Narendra Modi laying the foundation stone for the project this week, promising the project’s completion in 40 months. DH spoke to a cross-section of Bengalureans to better understand how the new railway system is going to benefit them and what are their expectations from the project.
Everyone who DH spoke to are unanimous about the project’s most important benefit: Decongestion of the city roads. Dhananjaya S T, an entrepreneur, says, The traffic load on Mysuru road, Tumakuru Road, K R Puram, Hebbal etc will be drastically reduced. It will also benefit the common man because the fares charged by Namma Metro are relatively expensive, but the suburban rail charges will be economical as we have seen in other cities like Chennai and Mumbai. We should have had this rail system very long back, but nevertheless I am glad that it’s finally happening now.
But he is a bit sceptical about the project getting completed in 40 months. “Because, none of the projects, the Metro included, have been commissioned before the deadline. However, when it eventually gets completed, the project will be really beneficial to the people, especially for people coming from the outskirts of Bengaluru,” he adds.
Vincent Varghese, a businessman from Kaggadasapura, shares the same sentiment.
People from the outskirts of Bengaluru are finding it hard to come to the city for work regularly, so the suburban trains will be very useful for better connectivity. Farmers from the outskirts can bring their produce to the city with much ease in trains than by road.”