Yeshwantpur-Hassan Intercity Express likely to be inaugurated on Mar 26

Bengaluru: South Western Railway is all set to run trains on the new Chikbanavar-Hassan railway line as inauguration of the Yeshwantpur-Hassan intercity express has been tentatively slated for March 26.

Railway officials said that former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will flag off the train.

The new line will reduce the distance between Bengaluru and Hassan from 259 km (via Arsikere) to 172 km and will pass through Nelamangala, Kunigal, Yediyur and Shravanabelagola.

The project was sanctioned in 1997 when Deve Gowda was Prime Minister and work had begun then, but several deadlines were missed as problems with regard to land acquisition had to be settled.

However, the state government in 2010 agreed to share half of the project’s cost to speed up the work. Sources say that the project took a major leap after Siddaramaiah managed to acquire the Kunigal stud farm for laying the track.