Mysuru: After the Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) approved train operations on the much-delayed track-doubling work at Srirangapatna, the newly-laid 1.7-km stretch will be commissioned  on Nov. 19.

It may be recalled here that the statutory inspection of the pending 1.7 km stretch of Railway line near Srirangapatna — taken up as part of track-doubling work between Mysuru and Bengaluru — was completed by the CRS on Nov. 6.

The CRS inspection covered all technical issues besides observation of the curvature, points and crossings and no major lacunae have been found. As all things being satisfactory, the authorisation for operationalising the track has been issued for Nov.19. The inspection team travelled on the stretch of the track, laid upon the bridges of the two branches of the Cauvery River, to see how safe it was.

Railway sources told Star of Mysore that the CRS, Southern Region, Bengaluru, has issued authorisation for commencement of passenger services on the entire stretch of double line between Bengaluru and Mysuru with a few minor observations.  These issues are being complied with in a day or two. The passenger services are expected from Nov.19.

Started in 2008, the double line project at Srirangapatna was expected to be completed by 2011. It was delayed owing to land acquisition, shifting of Tipu Armoury and other problems. While the initial estimated cost of the project was Rs. 313 crore, it escalated to Rs. 875 crore, including electrification work.

The CRS inspection also draws the track-doubling work between Mysuru and Bengaluru to a close. While the Bengaluru-Ramanagaram section had been doubled earlier, the Ramanagaram-Mysuru section received administrative clearance in 2007 and the authorities took more than 11 years to complete the doubling work on the 93 km stretch.

Though doubling work along the entire section was completed in 2014, work on the 1.5 km stretch was pending owing to the 18th Century armoury belonging to the era of Tipu Sultan which was located along the alignment of the new track, causing the work to be stalled.

Following permission from the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), the monument was translocated in one piece with expertise from the US in March this year, paving the way for completion of the second track as well.