RailEnquiry

BANGALORE: The last hurdle to fast-track work on the northern line for Namma Metro, from Swastik to Peenya, is on its way out.Formal approval from the Commissioner for Railway Safety (CMRS) for the 66-metre viaduct to be built across the City-Malleswaram railway line near Sriramapuram is expected to come by this month-end. The vital bridge work is crucial for finishing the line between Sampige Road Metro station (Swastik) and Peenya and Hesaraghatta stations.As directed by the Railway Board, BMRC has submitted proof-checked designs for the bridge to the CMRS.BMRC is planning to take up work on the bridge next week. It has asked the divisional railway authorities to impose speed restrictions of 20km per hour on trains moving on this route from September 1. Twenty-sixty traffic and power blocks, each of two-and-a-half hour duration at day and night, have been requisitioned from September 26 to facilitate launching steel beams and other staging materials spanning the tracks.The BMRC designs have been proof-checked by the RITES."There are a number of safety implications for both the Indian Railways and BMRC, which have to be kept in mind. Hence we have pitched for power blocks and traffic blocks on this section of the Indian railway tracks," said a BMRC spokesperson.However, the time to finish this crucial span is not yet calculated by the Metro authorities.

The speed restrictions on trains on the Indian Railway tracks could, however, cause a change in schedules of trains running on the Bangalore City-Yeshwantpur-Hubli route.