Bengaluru, 9 Sept

Union Minister V Somanna announced on Monday that Chikkabanavara-Baiyyappanahalli (Corridor-2, 25 km), Heilalagi-Rajanukunte (Corridor-4, 46.88 km) and suburban railway projects will be completed by December 2026.

The announcement was made in a joint press conference with Karnataka's Infrastructure Development Minister MB Patil in the Vidhana Soudha committee room, after the two ministers held a progress review meeting of the K-Ride (Rail Infrastructure Development Company (Karnataka) Ltd), project with senior officials.

K-Ride is executing the Bengaluru Suburban Railway Project. The ministers mentioned that the officials had requested three months of time to resolve land acquisition issues, and they had been strictly instructed to ensure no further delays after that.

Both ministers emphasised that these two corridors (2,4), part of the four projects inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, will be completed within the deadline.

On Patil’s request, Somanna has agreed to intervene in the K-Ride project, which has hit a roadblock as no tenders have been received so far to produce and supply railway coaches in public-private partnership.

"I will organise a meeting in Delhi with Union Minister for Railway Ashwini Vaishnaw as soon as possible," promised Somanna.

As both the corridors are planned to be completed by the end of 2026, the supply of railway carriages should be at least six months before that, said officials, adding that otherwise it would be difficult to open the corridors for the public. -PTI