What is in news : Much-anticipated  BENGALURU SUBURBAN RAIL project seems to be taking shape with the state government announcing that work on it will start in 3 months. The project, expected to be completed by 2026 , has often been dubbed as “India’s most integrated rail project”.

What is the Bengaluru Suburban Rail Project:

• The Bengaluru Suburban Rail Project (BSRP) was first proposed in 1983 and has since then been one of the dreams of many Karnataka governments.
• The project was first proposed by an expert team from the then Southern Railway (now Bengaluru falls under the purview of South Western Railway) and was estimated to be run across 58 kilometres.
• The proposal then was submitted as part of Karnataka’s first Transportation Survey commissioned by the then Chief Minister R Gundu Rao.
• The project aims to link Bengaluru to its satellite townships, suburbs, and surrounding rural areas by a rail-based rapid-transit system.
• With air-conditioned and metro-like trains expected to run across the network, BSRP will also provide a faster, safer and more comfortable mode of travel to hundreds and thousands of rural and urban commuters

Who is in charge of conceptualising and implementing the project: The Rail Infrastructure Development Company, Karnataka, (K-RIDE) — a joint venture of the government of Karnataka and the Union Ministry of Railways — is in charge of conceptualising and implementing the rail project. It is estimated to be completed by 2026 at a cost of Rs 15,767 crore.

What are the four corridors called:

All four corridors have been named after common regional flowers found in and around Bengaluru:

1. Sampige (Champa)
2. Mallige (Chameli)
3. Parijata (Prajakta)
4. Kanaka (Priyardarsha)

Interestingly, the first letters of these varieties can be put together as “Samparka”, which in Kannada means connectivity.

• Corridor-1 or “Sampige” connects KSR Bengaluru City (Majestic) to Devanahalli with 15 stations in between and runs across 41.40 kilometres.
• “Mallige”, otherwise known as Corridor-2, will connect areas between Baiyappanahalli Terminal and Chikkabanavara. Running across 25 kilometres it consists of 14 stations.
• Corridor-3 or “Parijata” will be 35.52-kilometres long with 19 stations between Kengeri and Whitefield
• “Kanaka” or Corridor-4 will have another 19 stations connecting the remaining 46.24-kilometre-long rail route.