Title - Tiff over metro viaduct across rail line continues

Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd. (BMRCL) has said that the South Western Railway has demanded about Rs. 11 crore to facilitate construction of the 66-m viaduct span across Bangalore-Tumkur Railway line in Malleswaram. “This amount is in addition to ‘track crossing charges’ paid by BMRCL to South Western Railway,” BMRCL Managing Director N. Sivasailam has said in a release here.The Divisional Railway Manager, Bangalore, in his letter of September 7 informed BMRCL that the corporation had to pay charges as the South Western Railway has to incur expenditure to reduce the speed of trains and effecting power and traffic blocks. Mr. Sivasailam said the cost of construction of the viaduct was about Rs. 6 crore and charges demanded by the South Western Railway would be in addition to the construction cost. BMRCL was examining the demand for Rs. 11 crore, he added.Meanwhile, sources in the South Western Railway said that the railways would have to incur the cost to effect power and traffic blocks and to restrict the speed of trains to 10 kmph on the stretch. In all, BMRCL has demanded 26 traffic and power blocks, for which the South Western Railway would have to deploy additional men and resources, the sources said.