Expanded Ashokapuram station to be commissioned in August

Pratap Simha, MP, and TS Srivatsa, MLA, with railway officials at Ashokapuram station on Friday. | Photo credit: MA SRIRAM

The Ashokapuram railway station expansion will be completed in due time and will be commissioned in August.

The work involves adding two new parking lanes, two pit lanes and two additional platforms that will increase the station’s capacity to handle more traffic. A direct consequence will be the relief of congestion at the Mysuru railway station, which handles more than 36 pairs of trains daily and is clogged.

Mysuru MP Pratap Simha and Krishnaraja MLA TS Srivatsa were informed of the ongoing work by senior railway officials led by Division (Coordination) Engineer Ravichandran. He said the cost of the project was Rs 30 crore of which Rs 23 crore had been spent and the second entrance to the station from the Jayanagar side was being built.

Mr Simha said that upon completion, the Ashokapuram railway station would have five platforms, of which two could be used to get on and off trains from Nanjangud and Chamarajanagar and the remaining three platforms could be used to operate long-distance trains from Ashokapuram. and Mysuru to other destinations. .

He said a meeting would be convened to determine the feasibility of extending some of the trains that terminated in Mysuru to Ashokapuram. This would not only help relieve congestion at Mysuru station, but would be beneficial to a large number of passengers from Srirampura, Ashokapuram, Jayanagar and surrounding areas.

“’We are looking at the extension of the Mumbai-Bengaluru Udyan Express to Mysuru, but there is opposition from stakeholders in Bengaluru on the grounds that Mysuru will usurp their quota. But fears are misplaced as Mysuru has its own quota on the train and an extra carriage can be attached if necessary,” Mr. Simha said.

On the expansion of the Mysuru main station, the parliamentarian said that tenders had been launched for the overhaul and redevelopment of the main station, which would have three additional platforms and four pit lanes. Additional inter-city passenger services will be proposed once the capacity increase of existing stations is complete.

Also, there is a proposal to flatten the curves along the Mysuru-Bengaluru route. There are about 150 multi-degree curves on the route that reduce the maximum speed limit. Work is underway to reduce the curvature of the track to allow trains to move faster, according to railway officials.

Currently, the maximum permitted speed on the Mysuru-Bengaluru section was 110 km/h and if the curves were to be reduced or flattened, the maximum permitted speed could be increased to 130 km/h, the authorities added.