TNN
Bangalore, Feb 18: The dream of having high-speed Bullet trains in Karnataka has been nipped in the bud, with the state government rejecting outright railway minister Lalu Prasad’s offer to run such services. It termed the Bullet train as “not in the state’s best interest”.
Chief minister B S Yeddyurappa, in a letter to Lalu on Tuesday, said his government will participate in the project only if the Chennai-Bangalore High Speed Rail Link is extended to Mumbai via Hubli, with an additional link to Mysore. In the Railway Budget, Lalu had announced that Bullet trains will run between Chennai and Bangalore, and Bangalore and Ernakulam.
“Such projects will help only the people of Tamil Nadu and Kerala come to Bangalore and not the people of Karnataka,” Yeddyurappa maintained in his letter.
While requesting the minister to modify the High Speed Rail Link projects, the CM said: “If our suggestions are not taken into consideration, it would be difficult for Karnataka to support the projects envisaged by the Railways.’’
However, railway officials said the proposal sent by the CM is totally impractical, considering the existing railway infrastructure in Hubli and Mysore. “I don’t think the railway minister will be pleased with the demand,’’ he added.