Bengaluru: A Vande Bharat sleeper train to Vijayapura from Bengaluru will soon hit the tracks, said industries minister MB Patil Monday, adding that Union minister of state for railways V Somanna assured him of the same.The interaction between the two ministers took place at the inauguration of a railway overbridge at Channapatna. Patil said Somanna responded to his proposal and announced that the highly anticipated VB sleeper train service to Vijayapura district will start in the next 3-4 months.He said all cities situated within 100km of Bengaluru will be connected with a quadrupled rail track. “Somanna agreed with our proposal of establishing four-lane railway tracks to cities within a 100-km radius of Bengaluru and providing smooth connectivity to Mangaluru,” Patil stated.The proposed plan includes construction of four-lane tracks from Bengaluru to Tumakuru, Mysuru, Hindupur and Kolar. A parallel road-rail project between Bengaluru and Mangaluru via Sakleshpur-Gundya route and construction of a double track for Tumakuru-Chitradurga-Davanagere route were proposed.Patil hinted at resumption of the long-delayed Whitefield-Kolar quadrupling project. “Central govt will bear cost of land acquisition required for this.” Additionally, survey for quadrupling of Bengaluru-Mysuru line will also kick off soon.Box (pix attached with this)Coimbatore-Mumbai train gets Yelahanka stopFrom now on, Coimbatore-Lokmanya Tilak Express will have an additional stoppage at Yelahanka, the second Mumbai-bound train (other than Udyaan Express) to stop at the station.11013/11014 Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (Mumbai)-Coimbatore-Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (Mumbai) Express was inaugurated in 1998 and had stops at KSR Bengaluru and Bengaluru Cantonment stations.After flagging off the train from Yelahanka station Monday, Union minister of state for railways V Somanna said the additional stoppage will benefit a large number of passengers from the area.Starting Tuesday, train no. 11014 towards Lokmanya Tilak Terminus will arrive at Yelahanka at 4:41pm and depart at 4:43pm. In the return direction, train no. 11013 towards Coimbatore will reach Yelahanka at 7:28pm and depart at 7:30pm.
