As promised, a dear friend of us, Prof. Rajeev Gowda, Rajya Sabha MP has reached out to the NW Railway Minister Shri. Suresh Prabhu in New Delhi on last Friday Dec 12, 2014.
In Prof. Rajeev Gowda's words,
I had a good meeting with Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu on Friday afternoon (along with Ramprasad). I will send some pictures later. The Chairman of the Railway Board, Arunendra Kumar was present throughout our meeting and I requested him for his support also.
The key takeways:
1. Suresh Prabhu says that he is supportive of the idea of Namma Railu
2. He is willing to push for a Special Purpose Vehicle for Namma Railu. I requested him to ensure that intermediate steps are also taken so that we do not need to wait for the SPV to start functioning.
3. I told him that we could have some trains start to function right away and that we are working with the SWR Bangalore people on that; he said that he would be happy to support that step too.
4. In response to my request to engage with the state government, he said he had already reached out to CM Siddaramaiah on working together
5. When I told him about Rail Day he said he would also join us on the occasion. Let's plan for that.
https://www.facebook.com/rajeevgowda/posts/10152907289815767
Thaak you so much Prof. Rajeev for your efforts in reaching out to Railway Minister. Hope GOK now will take those necessary steps to reach out to Railways and get the approvals needed.
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Comments
Railway Board need to sit with GOK and clear the approval
Time for Raiwlay Board to clear the approval for Commuter Rail and join SPV and start executing the identified steps as per SPV and soon to be subitted DPR by RITES
Thanks Prof Rajeev for reaching out to Railway Minister. Looking forward to see that Railway officials also take interest along with GOK
It is for GOK to sit with Railways and get the project approved!
Sanjeev,
It is for GOK to approach Railways and get the necessary approvals. Not the other way round.
If state government is not interested, we all can forget about Namma Railu. No amount of Railways approvals will help if the state government is least interested.
We need to stop this illogical rantings of railways showing step motherly treatment to state. In last 5-6 years we had 3 Railway ministers from Karnataka state and none have contributed anything for the project. Did they? That explains the reason for state's backwardness in railway infrastructure.
Our energies would be well spent in getting the CM and state government to approach railways.
I am sure the railway
I am sure the railway minister is keen on seeing that this project goes through.
It is for the CM and his entourage to show much a pro active approach now. The problem is these guys fear that KSRTC and BMTC will lose their importance if Namma Railu becomes a reality. Namma Railu shall cover most of the connectivity issues in the Old Mysore region. This is something, which KSRTC or Metro could never attempt to do.