In what comes as a huge relief to citizens of the the city, the long awaited Bengaluru Suburban Rail Project has been cleared by the Extended Board of Railways (EBR) today evening.

The approval was given during a meeting of extended railway Board that included members from the Union finance ministry, Niti Aayog and the ministry of statistics and programme implementation.

The proposal is likely to be soon placed before the cabinet and approval secured within a month.

The Rs 15, 990 crore suburban rail network project which cover 148.17 km and comprise of 57 railway stations spread across 148.17 km. It is expected to be complete by 2025.

Out of the total network spanning 148.17 km, 55.57 km will be elevated and the rest will be at ground level. This project is expected to cost around Rs 16,000 crore. Almost Rs 3,500 crore less than the earlier estimate of Rs 19,500 crore.

The project envisaged the following four corridors

KSR Bengaluru City to Devanahalli - this 41.4 km route will comprise of eight elevated and seven ground level stations. It is expected to generate a ridership of 2.82 lakh by 2025

Baiyappanahalli to Chikkabanavara - the route would be 25 km long and will include six elevated and eight on ground stations. It is projected to attract a daily ridership of 2.03 lakh

Kengri to Whitefield - comprising of nine stations out of which four will be elevated, a total of 1.64 lakh people are expected to commute on this route

Hillagere to Rajanakunte - this route will be the longest of the four at 46.24 km and will comprise of 19 stations. This is expected to attract a ridership of 3.34 lakh

This sprawling suburban network is expected to be connected to at least 10 metro stations namely - Majestic, Yeshwanthpur, Kengeri, Cantonment, Whitefield, KR Puram, Baiyappanahalli, Jnanabharathi and Nayandahalli.

The finally approved DPR saw a reduction of 29 stations and as much as 13-km distance as compared to a plan submitted in November 2018.

Central Bengaluru MP P.C Mohan who has energetically camapigned for the project confirmed the approval.