High Speed Rail Corridor - The thrust Southwards. Electronics City High Speed Station may get a miss
India is seeing a slow and steady transformation in rail road movement. In retrospect, when the first rail route went into operation in 1853, to the present modern day travel with the Vande Bharat series of trains, much water has flown under the bridge and the progress now being made is a game changer in the 21st century. Indeed, we have come a long way since, and thus the next 2 to 3 decades, will make visible transformation, as to how future travel will be like. The steady pace of the Mumbai Ahmedabad High Speed Rail Corridor (HSR), has evinced a lot of interest amongst the general public and sure enough, in the recently concluded Union Budget, 7 new rail corridors were announced and Southern cities like Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad finds mention in the scheme of things, with a possibility of connecting Amravathi cannot be ruled out. The combined HSR corridor for the South is close to 1500 Kms and a lot of commercial development can be expected along the railway route, wherever the HSR Corridor passes. An investment of Rs. 16 lakh crores is expected for this project. The Rail Minister Mr. Ashwini Vaishnaw says, these are long gestation projects, and also believes, this will bring transformative change in the daily lives of people, across all regions.
Speculation is rife as to how the city of Mysuru missed the bus, from the HSR map, which was initially considered as a possible destination. Sources in the Ministry have now indicated that Metro cities take precedence over Tier II cities, and thus, capital investment is a constraint. As this is a truncated section to the originally envisaged Mysore destination, the railway survey now have identified White Field and Byapannahalli as two possibile underground stations. with Byapannahalli being a terminal station. Electronics City, as of now, is not a priority section, which can happen once Mysuru leg of the route gets a nod.
The exact alignment of the stations planned on both Chennai and Hyderabad will depend on the outcome of the final location survey.
These are small baby steps in the world of rail travel in India. The next decade would open the flood gates of quick travel, revolutionising the way we travel in the future, inter alia, bringing tough competition to the Airline industry.
Speculation is rife as to how the city of Mysuru missed the bus, from the HSR map, which was initially considered as a possible destination. Sources in the Ministry have now indicated that Metro cities take precedence over Tier II cities, and thus, capital investment is a constraint. As this is a truncated section to the originally envisaged Mysore destination, the railway survey now have identified White Field and Byapannahalli as two possibile underground stations. with Byapannahalli being a terminal station. Electronics City, as of now, is not a priority section, which can happen once Mysuru leg of the route gets a nod.
The exact alignment of the stations planned on both Chennai and Hyderabad will depend on the outcome of the final location survey.
These are small baby steps in the world of rail travel in India. The next decade would open the flood gates of quick travel, revolutionising the way we travel in the future, inter alia, bringing tough competition to the Airline industry.
