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Commuter Rail meeting with Chief Secretary, GoK
Written By idontspam - 23 September, 2010
Bangalore CRS SWR GOK Commuter rail IR IDD Commuter rail
Meeting was called today by Chief Secretary SV Ranganath on request from V Madhu, Principal Secretary to GoK, Infrastructure Development Department to move forward commuter rail for Bangalore.
Madhu kicked off the proceedings by describing the commuter rail proposition. He articulated the service as described in the Praja Call to Action report and clearly stated what is currently in place is not a system but just a train going back & forth. He asked help of CS to get ok from Railways to prepare a study and kickstart the project.
The CS then stated Railway Board was the right place to raise this next so things can move forward. He mentioned he would meet with the Chairman Railway Board on his next trip to Delhi and take the board chairman along to meet the Cabinet Secretary and also Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission. He also intended to connect with K Kasturirangan, Member Planning Commission in this regard.
The TOR prepared in conjunction with IISc was also placed before the Chief Secretary
My takeaways from this meeting
- DRM is convinced SPV is the way to go and agrees to provide freedom of pricing under the ambit of the SPV
- He was okay if the SPV wanted to have complete operational freedom as long as a fee was apportioned to IR
- IDD and the GoK now fully grasp the alignment and salient features of a Commuter Rail system
- They understand the role of Commuter Rail in spatial planning for BMR region
- They understand the challenges in the SBC>BNC>BYP alignments and the need to start without that segment
- They are ploughing ahead with the next steps in making this happen.
Chief Secretary Meet - CRS next steps
COMMENTS
Wow, NR campaign is really moving forward,
kbsyed61 - 24 September, 2010 - 01:54
SB, IDS, Naveen,
Many thanks for taking time off to attend meetings with GOK officiuals and carrying on the NR campaign. Keep up the good work.
Couple of question though - Who has been assigned to do the DPR?Do the DPR has to wait till the Railway board OKs it?
Light at the end of the tunnel
idontspam - 23 September, 2010 - 12:26
Truly a milestone todays meeting was considering the commuter rail system is fully understood in all perspectives by (representatives of) GoK and after 27 years of the idea rusting around, this govt has resolved to take the next step forward and to completion.
Request the others who attended to provide their perspective
A great meeting - things looking up!
Naveen - 23 September, 2010 - 13:12
Agree with IDS - there is probably going to be action now on Commuter rail after all these decades of neglect.
Chief Secy Mr Ranganath appeared committed to Commuter rail as did all others. Mr Ranganath promised to take it up with Railway board on his next visit to Delhi. He described the Beijing south railway station, stating that it was better & bigger than BIAL!
What was most inspiring was to see Mr Madhu's push for the meeting & for CRS after his disinterest & reluctance in most of the past meetings !
We have to now monitor progress & await the DPR, which may take some time to prepare.
Good meeting, heartening to see the support
silkboard - 23 September, 2010 - 13:40
Definitely felt like a good meeting
- Mr Madhu's support is very very welcome, his department seems to be the one, and they are determined to move it forward.
- Was very heartening to see how Commuter rail is seen by all as a de-congestion solution to spread Bangalore around to Satellite towns and beyond.
- South Western Railways definitely seemed positive (a large contingent from SWR Bangalore was present at the meeting), as Chief Secy Mr Ranganath was saying, we have to be aware of the limitations that local divisions of SWR may have and should take it up with Railway Board.
We have been able to come this far mainly due to great support from Prof Sitharam (CISTUP), and Mr V Madhu, IDD. Thank you both, and we all look fwd to a DPR, real soon!
A quick photo, as we waited before the meeting. Pardon the poor quality, phone pic.
Vasanth - 24 September, 2010 - 04:48
It is good to hear this news. Thanks IDS, Naveen, SB and all Praja folks for the effort you have put in and also to CISTUP. Sorry, I just remained a spectator.
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