During my recent visit to Bengaluru in Sep, 2011, I had the occasion to do a 'Train Trip' to Hosur along with other memebrs of Praja's Namma Railu Team. Along that trip had the chance to observe the various stations on route to Hosur from Hebbal Station. Here is the picture of Hebbal station.
A few days later I visited my -in-laws place called "TANAKALLU" near Madanpalli/Kadiri route in Andhra Pradesh on NH-205. It is just a 3 hours drive from Bengaluru. Recently Tanakallu Railway station got facelifted as part of the BG conversion of Tirupati-Hindupur line. Here are some pictures of it.
I don't think I need to elaborate on the state of these 2 stations. Pictures will speak for themselves and they speak loud about the pathetic conditions of the railway stations in Namma Bengaluru.
The larger questions I have are:
- Do railway infrastructure matches with the brand 'Namma Bengaluru'?
- Is this state of Railway infrastructure in city is due to Railway's (SWR) apathy or state's irresponsibility of demanding better facilities in the state?
- Is this due to arrogance of Indian Railways that they don't need to upgrade and uplift their working and service?
- Is this due to misplace generosity of Namma Bengaluru / Karnataka residents for accepting the whatever comes their way?
- Isn,t time for everybody including PRAJA to demand some answers from both Railways and state for the dismal railway facilities we have?
Note - According to SWR's own admission, In last 4 decades there is not a single new platform was added.
http://praja.in/en/blog/kbsyed61/2011/05/14/state-south-western-railways
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Comments
Both State Govt & Public to blame for this apathy
@Syed,
Nice to see the phots of two stations.
Entrance to Hebbal station is real bad & people have to find path to reach Hebbal station from Hebbal flyover.
Look at other stations like Yelahanka & KR Puram where thousands of people use & now Byappanahhali station.
excpet Kengeri & Chikbanavar station, other stations arround bangalor are in bad shape.
My be due to better services of KSRTC & BMTC ( relatively ) public & State authorities are not bothered o demand the facility in smaller stations.
As the fares of BMTC & KSRTC are 2/3 times of Railways, now people are forced to use Railway ( subsidised fares ) to over come the fule price shock in Bangalore & arround.
With METRO getting opened, more public wil start using SWR trains from Byappanahalli station towards ITPL, Yelahanka, Hosur.
comparing facilities
I wrote about this sometime in Feb..
Check this for more.. http://praja.in/en/blog/g...
Even small stations in SCR are in better condition and have better facilities and amenities than the big ones in SWR. I am not sure why. (Hubli might be an exception to this rule. I haven't visited Hubli and so, don't have data points to prove it..)
-Pavan
Re:Both State Govt & Public to blame for this apathy
@Sanjeev,
Not much of planning is put in to improve the railway stations in Bangalore. Look at Yelahanka station, Though thousands of people use it daily, There is no prepaid auto counter put in the place. This will make people to go through harassment by autodrivers demanding more money. For example, you have to shell out Rs. 100-150 for coming from Yelahanka railway station to Esteem mall bus stop.
If BMTC does not work in co-ordinance with SWR to have better connectivity to all its existing railway stations. it will be difficult for general public. WIthought solving this problem BMTC is now busy solving feeder service to Metro stations. Don't know how effective it will be..
A Dream Project remains ignored - The Hindu
The Hindu carried this article in today's edition under Property Plus titled "A Dream Project remains ignored"
"...Travelator
The current track skips Baiyappanahhali by a distance of nearly 800 metres almost with an equestrian nonchalance by galloping through an overbridge. Joining the two preferably by a travelator (moving walkway) would enable effective induction of the sector into the city's transport scheme. The BMRCL reportedly has a travelator on its agenda at Baiyappanahalli, albeit to connect to an upcoming mall nearby. Imagine the joy of a commuter who reaches the city centre on M.G. Road from Yeshwanthpur in a flat 35 minutes (20 minutes from Yeshwanthpur to Baiyappanahalli, five minutes at interchange and 12 minutes by Metro to M.G. Road.) sans the hassles of a road journey involving an hour on the cumbersome route, pollution, a litre of petrol and weariness...."
"...Says Sathya Sankaran, an activist with civic portal Praja, “Railways have plenty of land, which is currently vulnerable to land sharks on either side of the track. It could be put to effective use to fulfil the inevitability of the doubling, if not now, in a decade or two.”..."