Date:03/01/2010 THE HINDU
URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2010/01/03/stories/2010010358960300.htm
Trains from Yeshwanthpur to Anekal, Devanahalli
Push-pull trains to be introduced for these destinations Plans to provide surface rail connectivity to international airport
BANGALORE: Devanahalli and Anekal will get commuter trains from Yeshwanthpur within a few months. There are also plans to provide surface rail connectivity to the international airport at Devanahalli with the help of the existing rail network.
Announcing this after a review of pending railway projects in the State in Bangalore on Saturday, Infrastructure Development Minister G. Janardhan Reddy told presspersons that push-pull trains would be introduced for these destinations. Infrastructure Development Principal Secretary V. Madhu said the train to Anekal would be introduced in the first or second week of March. The Yeshwanthpur-Devanahalli train may be introduced within one or two months after that.
Study
A traffic study would be conducted to assess the traffic volume between Yeshwanthpur-Devanahalli before introducing the train, he said.
To begin with, the train to Devanahalli would touch only Devanahalli railway station. However, there were plans to provide surface rail connectivity to the international airport by developing a railway traffic hub near trumpet interchange in the coming months, Mr. Madhu said.
The two proposed trains would make use of the existing rail network for their operation. According to Mr. Madhu, three trains would be pressed into service from Yeshwanthpur to Anekal in the future. He said the proposed service would help ease traffic congestion in Bangalore city.
Comments
Extension of BIAL train till SBC or Kengeri would have been good
For the south Bangaloreans, especially during peak hours, it is even harder to reach Yeshwantpur like reaching BIAL. Instead of travelling all the way to Yeshwantpur, we would have reached Hebbal by then. It is better to start the train from SBC itself, or even better from Kengeri. It can serve as commuter plus airport train.
This CRS proposal looks good
Hi All,
Been through the discussions about CRS on two other threads, but for starters, I like this proposal announced by Minister G.Janardhan Reddy better, since this appears more viable & might make economic sense too :
1) Existing surface rail tracks are not best suited for frequent city services (such as the metro) since routes, in many cases are away from key activity centers, as I had mentioned in the past.
2) Barring a few nodal points (KR Puram, Byappanahalli, Whitefield, Yeswantapur, Cantonment, etc.), arranging easy transfers to other modes might involve expensive land acquisitions, if at all such is possible, not to mention the difficulties for arranging integration, particularly with the Metro.
3) CRS makes better sense for suburban traffic & could also cover a few existing stations within the city. Thus, it can play a hand for urban /city traffic as well, but might fail if it is tried to be operated purely for urban needs.
I think the example of Mumbai is inappropriate for CRS here since the possible routes here are not at all direction-oriented as they are in Mumbai.
CRS in Delhi, Chennai, etc. are running up huge losses & this may explain why the authorities are reluctant & show a general lack of interest.