Railway MoS V Somanna Hints Revision of Train Fares Including VB Express

Bengaluru: Railway Minister of State V. Somanna has stated that there is a need to revise ticket prices for all trains, including Vande Bharat. 

Speaking to the media in the city, he said, “We will revise ticket prices so that poor and middle-class people can travel on Vande Bharat trains. We discussed ticket price revision with Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday.”

He mentioned that the Bangalore Cantonment Station project cost is Rs 485 crore, and the Yeshwantpur Station project cost is 387 crore rupees. The doubling of tracks between Yeshwantpur-Channasandra (25 km) and Baiyappanahalli-Hosur (48 km) will cost Rs 814 crore . He assured that they won’t allow problems with railway overbridges and underpasses. He stated that the railway sector in Karnataka will develop in various ways.

“In the next two years, Karnataka will see development in the railway sector in different ways. Previously, there was cooperation between the center and state for railway underpasses and overbridges. It’s unclear to what extent this was implemented,” he said.

Regarding the Tumakuru-Chitradurga-Davangere route, he said he has already spoken with CM Siddaramaiah about appointing 3 DCs. The suburban project was supposed to be completed in 40 months. When Modi launched it in 2022, 40 months were mentioned. He admitted that the suburban rail project work is not progressing as expected. Next month, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw will come and review it. Out of 11,800 crore rupees, the state government still needs to pay 5 crore rupees for railway projects, he informed.