It is the season of big plans, UP has announced a staggering 1000kms of 8 lanes expressway running the entire length of the state from east to west. Not to be outdone, inspired by a CII proposal for a Mumbai-Bangalore-Chennai high speed freight corridor, the KA state government has tossed in the idea for a high speed passenger corridor in KA, that'll do Bangalore-Hubli in 2 hours, Bangalore-Mysore in 40 minutes. This, apparently, is the "Just In Time" concept to de-congest Bangalore.
This will perhaps give fillip to Hubli and Mysore, by increasing connectivity, so that they can develop as economic centers and act as meaningful alternatives to Bangalore. But consider the soup all existing connectivity projects involving these cities are in: BMIC is mired in land and lake issues, NH-4 Dharwad-Sira is perhaps the only unfinished Golden Quadilateral stretch in the Deccan Plateau, Bangalore-Mysore track doubling is progressing too slow and too crudely and Chennamma pulls up at the far-end of SBC much to the chagrin of its patrons.
Given the attitude of the state government towards the list of projects that can improve connectivity between these cities, is the state getting distracted with glitz? With airports in Hubli and Mysore shaping up, is this project really needed? After all, high speed train tickets are not going to come any cheaper than air line tickets. In any case, whether Hubli & Mysore share the load of growth with Bangalore or act as suburbs of Bangalore, traffic congestion in Bangalore is a now and real problem.
According to KA officials quoted in the TOI article, "Acquisition of land should not be a problem as columns can be put on existing tracks". If land acquisition is the major bottleneck for metro and if columns can be layed over existing tracks, can Bangalore take this idea and petition SWR for permission to setup columns for metro around existing tracks? Could this take the urgently needed mass transit in Bangalore from a piddly 33 kms to a meaningful 100kms?
ಪ್ರತಿಕ್ರಿಯೆಗಳು
Forget 40 Minutes to Mysore - Take 1 more hour - Take 1hr45 Mins
Really doubt all these
This glitz is a distraction
What I meant
A load of rubbish. TOI
Drive safe. It is not just the car maker which can recall its product.