The Railways has overcome the impasse over completion of track electrification work for a distance of 1.4 km near the Mysuru airport which was held up due to technical reasons.

As the stretch of the track passed very close to the runway of the Mysuru airport, the Airport Authority of India had denied permission to the Railways to draw and erect the overhead catenary system that supplies electricity to locomotives.

This was on the grounds that the overhead catenary system could cause electromagnetic interference with the flight navigation systems and compromise safety. The issue was pending for the last three years due to the absence of an NoC from the Director General of Civil Aviation.

As a result, no electric trains were operating beyond Ashokapuram, and the authorities had to deploy diesel locomotives to haul the train till Chamarajanagar.

But senior officials in the Mysuru division of the South Western Railways said that since June 1, 2025, four passenger trains on the Mysuru-Chamarajanagar section have been running on electric locomotives. The loco pilots have been instructed to achieve the top sectional speed before reaching the point where there is no power supply.

“Trains achieve the sectional speed and coast for 1.4 km. Though there is a reduction in speed, the locomotive manages to reach the point from where continuous power supply is restored again,” according to the officials.

However, Girish Dharmaraj Kalgona, Divisional Commercial Manager, said that the gap of 1.4 km was being reduced further to 300 metres, and once completed, all trains can coast the distance on the momentum of its earlier acceleration.

“This gap of 300 metres – close to the runway –  will not be electrified but the locomotives passing along the section will have adequate traction and momentum to haul the train and clear the short distance after which it will be powered by overhead catenary systems once again,” Mr. Kalgonda said. 

He said that the work on erecting the support mast along the 900 metre-stretch has commenced, and the work would be completed in due course.

Earlier, the railway authorities had even contemplated rerouting the track and changing its alignment, for which, a survey had also been conducted. But during a recent visit to Mysuru, the Minister of State for Railways V. Somanna, in reply to a question, said that he was confident of the issue being resolved “within days”, though he had not elaborated on it further.

Mr. Somanna had stated that for an organisation like the Railways, which has completed track electrification of over 45,000 km in 10 years, thrashing out a solution for 1.2 km was not a major issue.

The track electrification work between Mysuru and Chamarajanagar has been completed at a cost of nearly ₹20 crore, and is part of the nation-wide electrification work that has received impetus under the Central government since 2014.