Public transport – why such neglect?
For a change, let us talk about trains instead of buses.
Each time I go to KR Puram (or Krishnarajapuram) station to do a pickup, I see a wonderful decongestion potential going waste. That station is like a trap, if you dont trip and fall over a pothole on the platform, you are sure to get run over by a truck when trying to cross over to the other side of Outer Ring Road. You will, wont you, if you have to catch a bus that goes into the city?
Similar thoughts hit me when I drop my folks off at Yeshwantpur railway station. This one is a lot better than KR Puram, but extremely dirty and mismanaged.
Why should Bangalore City station get all the love and attention, while these useful satellite stations go “waste”?
Both these stations are right next to real nice and big roads. KR Puram is on Outer Ring Road and Old Madras Road. Yeshwantpur one is bang on Tumkur Road.
Most folks in East Bangalore would readily step on or get off their trains at KR Puram itself, provided there are good facilities. For starters we need a better usable footbridge to cross these dangerous tracks. Cleaner platforms, drinking water, sanitation facilities will help. So will some designated and maintained parking and auto landing area. And how about a good bus stop nearby that I can walk up to without risking my life?
In fact, to decongest Bangalore City station and Majestic area, why not have all east bound trains leave from KR Puram station itself? What is wrong with that?
Ditto for Yeshwantpur. No designated bus stop, and very poor parking and landing facilities for autos and taxies. Some trains do terminate at Yeshwantpur, but why not more? Few more northbound trains could terminate there.
BTW, a similar plan is being executed for decongesting Majestic bus stand. Bus terminals have been planned at satellite locations within the city. We should do the same for trains.
[Note: that image is from this great Indian Railway Fan Club site run by Apurva]
Great post on a burning issue. Did you also notice that the railways is getting a cold shoulder whereas the bus service is getting more prominence? Understood that much of public transport happens via buses, but a lot of Bangaloreans do travel in and out of the city by trains. Having satellite stations does help, as exemplified by Yeshwantpur terminus. And if K R Puram is opened up, it would be a great blessing for East Bangalore residents like me. K R Puram is 4.5 kms from my home and City station is 18 kms. That’s the kind of difference that I am looking at.
long long ago, there were noises about intra city rail. infact, cdp bangalore and draft notification plan of bmrda all speak of it.
state does not seem to be pursuing this though, neither does the railways. there was some noise about track doubling+electrification but laloo alloted only aloos in this years budgetary allocations. (something like 3 lakhs!!!)
check
http://static.flickr.com/35/103813843_f998f3e16e_o.jpg
for rail network of bangalore.
maroon-existing BG rail network.
yellow-metro
blue-ORR along some parts of which mono is to be run.
anywho, NGEF grounds @ byapanahalli(junction to the east) is set to become a major transport hub as far as BMRC is concerened.
the problem with metro is that it is so expensive that nobody is talking about any meaningful extension of the network beyond the first phase.
so for a while metros impact is not gonna be felt in the most vocal east, south east corridors of bangalore.
At the same time the existing rail network, which could have acted as a force multiplier by adding north, east, and south east connectivity, lies dormant. I was hoping the b’lore metro would be BG for this reason.
pardon the dead link.
here is the correct one.
http://static.flickr.com/76/222142465_74a59d0c74_o.jpg
Right RC. K R Puram Terminus is an idea waiting to happen.
Tarlesubba, great observation! You stole some words from my mouth there. Existing railway tracks have potential to help, but planners dont mention them much because South and East Bangalore (the IT band) does not have a network per se. But if you notice the network, two things are worth our attention.
No 1) There is a railway station not that far from ITPL (Whitefield). And trains can come there from North and West Bangalore.
No 2) A rail line goes from around North of Indiranagar all the way to Electronics City (same line that gives us the famous Marathahalli Bridge). East bangalore could commute to elc city using this line.
So the way I (and you too) see it, a decent congestion idea is idling right in front of our eyes!