The railway authorities have taken up the survey for quadrupling (four lines) of multiple routes under South Western Railway and this includes the section between Mysuru and Bengaluru.
The railway board has sanctioned ₹5.48 crore for the Final Location Survey for quadrupling the Mysuru-Bengaluru section which is among the high-density routes. The other routes where the surveys have been ordered are Bengaluru-Tumakuru, Bangarpete-Jolarpettai, and Hubbali-Hospete. In addition, surveys have also been ordered for doubling the Mysuru-Chamarajanagar section and Hassan-Kunigal-Chikkabanavara.
Mysuru MP Pratap Simha told media persons that with respect to quadrupling Mysuru-Bengaluru line the exercise will result in reduction in track curvature of the existing lines as well as the two new lines are expected to follow a straight path to a large extent. The railway board approved the works in September 2023 and released ₹21.40 crore for the purpose, he added.
But other sources told The Hindu that quadrupling Mysuru-Bengaluru section could be a major challenge especially after Kengeri as the entire section beyond that was landlocked. Besides, as per the existing rules, there should be 15 meters of free land on either side of the track as safety measure and this will entail large scale land acquisition.
