Retired manager of South Western Railways suggests low-cost measures for rail connectivity

Venkateswaran Anand, the retired manager of South Western Railways had wrote to General Manager of SW Railways Ajay Kumar Singh, by suggesting various steps, including low-cost measures, to improve the suburban rail connectivity in the city.

Some of his short-term low-cost solutions are additional loop line at Malur, increased speed of the trains which are running at 100 km/h to 110 km/h, by converting Bellandur into a crossing station, urgent doubling of Baiyyappanahalli-Yeshwanthpur section and the additional loop lines at Hebbal and Banaswadi.

The South Western Railways said that, it has commissioned doubling/electrification of the three prominent lines which are Lottegollahalli-Yelahanka, Channasandra-Yelahanka and Bangalore City-Mysore and will start functioning this year. The Railways has also sanctioned the doubling and electrification of other lines for which the work will be commencing soon, they are Yeshwanthpur-Banaswadi-Baiyyappanahalli-Channasandra line and Baiyyappanahalli-Hosur line and quadrupling of Bengaluru Cantonment-Whitefield Line.

Anand, who has been pitching for a station and a platform at Binny Mills, said that, “Bengaluru suburban railways have been completely neglected by the state and the Central government. I have data that says that the Northern Railways have been getting the highest amount of fund while the others are ignored. When 9.5 acres of land acquisition at Binny Mills had to be done, the Railway Board refused saying that the land is too expensive but a small piece of land in New Delhi was acquired by the railways at Rs 196 crores. Binny Mills is an important place where a station must come up or at least they must do the cabling at Binny Mills if they can’t build a station. Elevated track is a far-fetched dream right now but first we must focus on easing day-to-day commute of the middle class and weaker section of the society.”

He also said that the congested Bangalore City Station will worsen with automatic signaling and adding of new train services after doubling of lines.

Sanjeev Dyamanavar, a regular traveller and activist, had said, “The Bangalore City to Mysore Line has already been helping in the introduction of more train services. Automatic signaling between Bengaluru City-Cantonment-Whitefield-Bangarpet was sanctioned in 2018’s budget and will become a reality in the next two months. It will also bring down pressure on the city railway station.

Baiyyappanahalli coaching terminal too will be a reality in the next six months while doubling and quadrupling will take 2-3 years. Intermediate Block Signalling (IBS) between Channasandra and Yelahanka will be completed in 3-6 months once sanctioned by the railway board. Construction of elevated corridors to augment the line capacity will take around 4-6 years. The elevated lines will eliminate the need for land acquisition for rail projects.”