Bengaluru's suburban rail project faces major delays (again)
Bengaluru's long-awaited 148-km suburban rail—first proposed in the early 1980s and finally greenlit in 2020—just hit a big snag.
The project is now delayed by over three years, with the finish line pushed to March 2030 instead of October 2026.
Land issues, construction slowdowns, and trouble getting trains are all to blame.
Even PM Modi wasn't happy about it when he reviewed the progress.
What's actually happening?
The rail network will have four lines, but none are on schedule: Mallige Line should be done by December 2028, Kanaka Line by June 2029, and both Sampige and Parijata Lines only by March 2030.
After seeing these setbacks, PM Modi asked for an official audit to figure out what went wrong and who's responsible.
Meanwhile, K-RIDE (the agency behind the project) has already floated fresh tenders, and bids for the first package are scheduled to be opened in January 2026 (date not specified in this source).
Why does this matter?
This suburban rail is supposed to help unclog Bengaluru's traffic-choked roads—a huge deal for anyone living or working in India's tech capital.
With delays piling up and top-level frustration showing through, it raises real questions about how big infrastructure projects get done here—and why it always seems so tough to deliver them on time.