WIP : Nelamangala - Shravanabelagola new line!

A trip undertaken by railfans Kunal Doddanavar, Pawan Koppa, Santosh Kulkarni and Shishir Jairam to cover the status of the works-in-progress on the Nelamangala-Shravanabelagola line, a vital link to reduce the journey time between the IT capital, Bangalore and important port city, Mangalore.
While the line between Hassan and Shravanabelagola was completed 5 years back and was operated for a few months, it was shut immediately after. On the other end, the line between Chikbanavar in Bangalore and Nelamangala on the city's outskirts was completed more than 2 years back, but no train has seen the "light" of this line yet. This album covers the work in progress between these two points - Nelamangala and Shravanabelagola. A line which may take many more months / years to complete!

Date: 2012-09-16
Owner: Gallery Administrator
Size: 59 items
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Finally the line enters Shravanabelagola. (Shishir Jairam)

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The other end of the station where the line heads off towards Hassan. This had been completed 5 years back and was in use for a few months till all services were stopped. The very same line was set to see action from the day this photo was shot as a new M

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The platform is at a higher level hence passengers have to climb to the first floor of the station to gain access to the platform. SBGA. (Pawan Koppa)

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First look - can anyone guess what is here? Even we had a tough time finding out! (Pawan Koppa)

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The mystery is unveiled - creepers had completely gobbled up the second loop making this look like an abandoned station! (Pawan Koppa)

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Another look at the "mini-forest" inside the station covering the loop on PF-2/3! (Pawan Koppa)

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Another angle to the works-in-progress on the line towards Bangalore. The newly laid but completely rusted signals can also be seen. Try spotting the second loop line at the bottom of the picture :-) (Pawan Koppa)

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A completely ransacked points box. It was sad to see the terrible state of neglect and apathy here. Nature had taken over to somewhat shield this sorry picture from passers-by's eyes! The points were being manually operated that day for reversal of the lo

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Ransacked and stripped of all its internal equipments is this S&T box. (Kunal.S.Doddanavar)

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Another sorry sight of track circuitry which had been vandalized, exposed and now been taken over by the elements. (Pawan Koppa)

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The manual switch point with a protective key to prevent misuse and keep it locked in position. (Kunal.S.Doddanavar)

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A loop that heads into a forest! (Pawan Koppa)

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For those of you who have wondered what's inside a trackside circuit box, this is what (is left of it) looks like! (Pawan Koppa)

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The last image before we part - even the lord towering over the hill in the background could not prevent thugs from stealing every single possible thing at this station. This one picture sums it all up! (Pawan Koppa)

Comments
(view all 4 comments)
Great job, guys. Looks like this project still has a very long way to go before it nears completion.
Posted by Manish on 2012 Oct 28 09:58:42 +0000
Nice effort ...Another location for RF getting ready....
Posted by Jayasankar Madhavadas on 2012 Oct 09 03:34:32 +0100

Great efforts team.. thanks for sharing
Posted by Hrishikesh Moghe on 2012 Oct 07 19:51:36 +0100