Namma Railu, the engine for progress

Although at least seven to eight reports on commuter rail for Bangalore had been done since 1964, everyone concerned seems to have come on board only now.

Campaigners for commuter rail service (CRS) from Praja RAAG, who have been studying the rail network in the city, think there is progress though their ‘Namma Railu’ campaign, which began just two years ago.

Muralidhar Rao, who heads Praja RAAG, says that it was only by accident that Praja discovered the possibility of commuter rail for the city, when someone told them about a Yeshwanthpur to Hosur line that covered the distance in about 1 hour 15 minutes.

“We had our meeting on the train, got off at Hosur, had some idlis and hopped back on when the train left about half an hour later,” he recalls.

The group began to explore the possibility of CRS, studied various reports, held discussions with railway employees and even prepared a feasibility report for CRS.

They presented their report at various levels, from mobility conferences to bureaucrats, met MPs and started gathering support.

“DULT finally commissioned RITES to do a study,” said Muralidhar.

However, it was not as simple as it sounded, said Pranav Jha, one of the campaigners for Namma Railu and founders of Praja.

“One of the biggest challenges was to make people aware of the system. The first six months were spent going back and forth between the government and Railways,” he said.

While the elected representatives say they are for it, they are not sure on how to take it forward. The government would not take it up unless the Railways were interested and the railways wanted a DPR from the government first. When a report was sanctioned, Railways would not foot the bill, he said.

“Most people are unaware of what CRS is,” said Pranav. “We plan to change this.”

The first step is the email campaign to all department heads.