There was an article in The Hindu today citing an announcement by Shri K. H. Muniyappa, MoS Railways- see link here.
Several items were of interest to the ongoing rail related discussions here. Unfortunately, this covers a broad swathe of topics. Some Bangalore related highlights of the report were.
- Track-doubling would be taken up on Yeshwanthpur-Yelahanka and Yelahanka-Channasandra sections at a cost of Rs. 125 crore. The railway authorities had taken up the final location survey.
- Subways at road over-bridges in Lingarajapuram, Banasawadi, Hebbal, Fraser Town and other places in the city
- Road over-bridges would be built at Kodigena Halli, Sarjapur and Boopasandra crossings
- Road over-bridges and under bridges would be built at Jalahalli across the ring road, Nagawara, Byappanahalli, Kengeri, Bapujinagar and Allalasandra
- Work on the road over-bridge at Whitefield would be completed by March 2010
- Widening of Bennigana Halli road under-bridge on Bangalore-Krishnarajapuram (NH 4) would be completed by May 2010
- The Bangalore-Whitefield-Krishnarajapuram track-quadrupling work could not be implemented as the State Government had not decided on commuter rail transportation and cost sharing
More State related details are in the article.
Some comments: The bridge at Jalahalli is also in all sort of BDA documents, but probably also needs some Railway budgetary support and sanctions to move forward. Much needed, speaking as someone who suffered there only yesterday. Is there a plan to widen the ring road from the Jalahalli level crossing to NH4?
ROB at Whitefield - See a new deadline, this time by the minister. Will someone volunteer to send him a paper clipping and photographs at the end of March 2010?
See a summary of Praja discussions here.
Benninganahalli Road Under Bridge - this is confusing. Wasn't there a lot of talk about how this is a very complicated affair and needs 2 years to finish? I can see that sections have been cast to "push" in place on either side of the existing bridge, but one section may interfere with the on-ramp to the ring road, from a quick visual inspection.
Ben-ridge discussions on Praja. here, here and a compendium here.
Finally, now the railways is okay with Commuter rail, but the State Govt is the bottle neck?
Commuter rail Praja discussions here.
Forward this Blog entry
Comments
Updates from the Railway Minister
I welcome the announcments made by MoS for railways K.H.Muniyappa regarding railways projects in bangalore. But, I think all these announcements have been made keeping mind BBMP elections. These announcements are only to woo the voters of BBMP election and nothing concrete is going to happen.
Point 7 in the blog is
Point 7 in the blog is important to note. If state govt cant take the lead and put the money where the mouth is it is going to be difficult. Rail infrastructure projects take time so BSY should quit moping/confessing and start a SPV for railway network with IR/SWR & State Govt as partners.
Point no : 7 Commuter rail
Its false statement by Shri K. H. Muniyappa, MoS Railways as one can see in the IDD’s website the budgetary allocations to the department for the year 2007-2008 includes Rs. 10 crores for CRS for Bangalore ( point 19 under Railways Infrastructure ) Following links can be checked.
http://www.idd.kar.nic.in/allocation.html
http://bangalore.citizenmatters.in/articles/view/1224-bengaluru-commuter-rail-plans?page=2
We request Praja to take up this issue as Railway Minister is passing buck to State Govt & intern State is passing the buck to Railway. Why Shri K. H. Muniyappa, MoS Railways is telling that state has to decise, when same issue in Weste Bengal or Bihar, Mamath or Lalu were fully giving from Railway budget, our state minister is not having any say under Mamtaha, as one can see that Duronto express was started with one moth of announcement, Rajadhani which was announced in Budget is not yet started. If the issue with Bangalore-Whitefield-Krishnarajapuram track-quadrupling work, whats problem in staring Local trains between
Bidadi to Devnahalli, Whitefiled to Devanahalli, Yesvathpur to Hosur, Bangalore city to Nelamanagala.
One can see bad state of Foot over Bridge ( new one ) at Yesvathpur where their is no footover Bridge to cross the Railway Platform & NH-4 in single go & same thing is applicable at Cantonment Station too. Also Yelahanka station is also same.
Even when SWR has announced 2 minitue stopage at Yesvathpur for trains towards Hubli, same has not been incorporated at IRCTC website.
All these shows the srroy state of railway facilty at Karanataka & 5th largest city of India.
Kindly request PRAJA to file petition with Shri K. H. Muniyappa, MoS Railways to take up the Local Trains ( CRS ) for Bangalore.
Even same things is applicable for Hubli Dharwad twin city where local Trains can be started.
the budgetary allocations to
the budgetary allocations to the department for the year 2007-2008 includes Rs. 10 crores for CRS for Bangalore
Allocating monies not a CRS make. DRUCC is a user comittee and cannot take up work. There needs to be a formal state committee to push for implementation and workout issues with passing the buck, should be to resolve issues like who will fund how much, who will do the work, implementation and ultimately monitor the running of the CRS by a private party.
The SPV could be BMRC (easier for coordination) or another SPV with IR/SWR as stakeholders. Swalpa adjusting with interstate services as locals will severely constrain feasibility as it will be extremely inflexible.
Local Train ( CRS ) for Bangalore
What your saying makes sense as some SPV to be made under the responsibilty of BMRCL. Also their should be single ticketing system integrated with METRO, CRS & BMTC so that users can have monthly pass or daily ticket to travel / switch over smoothly from one mode of transport to other.
Swalpa adjusting nature is reason for not taking off the CRS system for Bangalore & all of us are suffering with long travell time & pollution. When state govt is taking 50% cost of rail projects in the state, state should get first benifit, if it comes to WB or Bihar do they agree same thing. You have seen when local train is not given priority on the track in Bihar or WB, they burn or Damage the rail property & no criminal case recodred???
What needs to done from all of us so that Stae Govt & Railway ministry take the responsibilty so that things will start moving in the correct direction. Also I feel even citizens & Corporates will be willing to donate money to get the CRS started. So their should not be any funding problem & also this is for comman social transport system, no one should look for profit making, as we want improvement in the Locla transport system.
Can we all of us file petition to Chief Minister / Transport Minister / Railway minister for this. we can not keep mute spectetor and allow things go bad. As MTERO work is in full swing & city limts have expanded, Either METRO can not be complet solution or HSRL only for airport, what about citizens travelling between Devanahalli, Chikballapur, Dodballapur, Bidadi, Kolar, Nelamangala to Bangalore, other parts of the city. Also MTERO woll take another cool 5 years to complete & HSRL will take next 10 years. This means we wll keep on suffering on traffic problem even when we have well connected rail netwrok within city limits.
Let us know what can be done from all of us on this regard.
Made a separate post to vent on point #7
Sorry sanjay - as you mentioned multiple announcements here, I ended up making a separate post to vent on just the point #7. Will see if can move it back here as a comment.
How is MRVC structured (Mumbai)?
How is Mumba Rail Vikas Corporation structured? Here is the website http://www.mrvc.indianrai...
Click on funding (http://www.mrvc.indianrai...) and you see this:
So its World Bank, Railways, and Maharashtra state govt.
Bengaluru Rail Nigam - structure?
So, how would the modern version of MRVC - lets name it Bengaluru Rail Nigam be structured?
Perhaps state and central govts come in via BMRCL. Would you pull in a private party as well, on lines similar to BIAL (international airport)? Trains, stations - there is a lot of leases and ad-spaces there to get private interest, though land may be a problem here to get private parties interested. Leaving it purely to govt bodies may not lead to quality upgrades to current railway infra inside the city. A mere touch-up to stations, with standard EMU/DEMU trains is not going to give us a viable project (Naveen's and many other member's point - a valid one). that is why, getting private party interest would be important
BRN would have BMRCL stake in it to prevent conflicts between the two. Mumbai is going to have both modes, and there is no reason why our city can't have both as well. How is Mumbai Metro and MRVC interacting there? No idea, need to check.
Mumbai - MMRDA running MUTP
From what I can gather from http://www.mmrdamumbai.or...
So where are we today
Lot of work for us from what I can see.
SPV pattern
So its World Bank, Railways, and Maharashtra state govt.
No WB is only a source for money. The SPV is between Govt of Mah and IR with equal contributions. With a capital base of 3K crore the 10 crore thrown in the air without an SPV is peanuts and shows the seriousness of GoK.
BRN could operate on the BMRC model for construction ie build on tenders/contracts. But operation could be on the Stockholm model. They outsource both running and track/station maintenance on fixed price 8 year contracts via competitive bidding to renowned operators like MTR, Veoilia etc
Happy new year to all. Let hope to get CRS this year for Bangalore
Bengaluru Rail Nigam - structure?
Once we invoilve the private party into public project, then making profit will be the main motive & they dictate all terms to Govt. as can been seen in BIAL ( only monoploy they want ) We should not have private in these public transport system
We kknow waht poor quality of BIAL airport ( less then the old airport & only thing old wine in new bottel with monopoly )
Why are we critical about the quality of service provided by Govt on local train using DEMU / MEMU. This service is for mass transport to all citizens with low cost & here the motive is of good & efficient public transport system with low cost. As suggested above, BMRCL can be used to start SPV for this CRS with funds allocation from State & Center with Corporate & individual donations. This very much possible & we are loosing time & cost escalation.Also ticket system for CRS should be integrated with MTERO & BMTC, so that we have single montly pass for all these 3 modes of transport. Even govt incures some loss ( l like BMTC, imagine without BMTC for Banaglore city ), after all its for the Social public transport system. ( Please let me know any private company giving concession to Elder persons > 60 yrs, Women & Students )
We all need to file Public Interest Litigation ( PIL ) in high court to get the CRS started. Their is strong case in starting CRS as all road in Banaglore are chocked due to METRO construction & Fly-Over with underpass. If CRS is started immediately, Bangalore citizens will have better life.
As State & Center both are spending huge amount Under the Jawaharlal Nehru Renewal Urban Mission (JNRUM) for getting buses, underpass, road widening & fly-over's. Their should not be any problem in providing funds to start Local Trains ( CRS ) for Bangalore. We need this very much along with METRO immediately, as the delay will be for suffering to Banagalore citizens.
Hope in this budget in FEB'10 Mamatha or PM gives priority for CRS for Bangalore city.
Happy New Year to All
( Note : This in reference to BIAL failure ) If any one is appreciating, kindly look at he Paris & Amsterdam Airport, our BIAL is industrial shed infornt of them, they are well integrated with Local transport system. Their underground MTERO running below Paris & Amsterdam aiprot. Now we have missed such an wonderfull airport for Bangalore just because private parties manted to make more money & why BIAL pvt parties are very particular about agreement issue where HAL airport can not be opened, its public money used to build such big airport is getting wested, they do not want competition )
Connectivity
kindly look at he Paris & Amsterdam Airport
I was at Schiphol last week and didnt find anything in the terminal itself that provided a user experience better than BIA. The train connectivity as typical of any European city was exemplary. Schiphol handles 47 million passengers and CDG handles 60 million passengers per year. BIA has only 8 million. So they are not comparable. If Bangalore traffic went to 40 million I am sure there is no way they can manage with a shed. If user experience goes down I think we have reason to complain. I wait longer for my baggage at other international airports than I do in BIA.
Their underground MTERO running below Paris & Amsterdam aiprot
This I agree. We need connectivity to airport. In the same breath we want to shoot HSRL down. In any European city their train stations are better than their Airports. The recent upgrades of Utretcht centraal train station in Netherlands is better built than Schiphol Airport, Rotterdam centraal is getting upgraded as well. In contrast Eindhoven airport, home of Philips & PSV is like our HAL airport. Small and minimal like a hall.
I have been proposing on all forums to create an alternate transportation hub near the BIA airport. Not just HSRL. All SWR/IR trains can originate and end there with HSRL connection to Bangalore City. Metro should go there as well. There needs to be transport connectivity from nearby cities like Doddballapur, Tumkur, Mysore, Davangere, Shimoga, Hassan etc. There needs to be dedicated high speed trains from Mangalore, Mysore, Hubli, Hyderabad & Chennai directly to BIA transport terminal.
back to topic
Sanjeev - thanks for that note on CRS. I mentioned BIAL from structure point of view. Lets us leave the debate on BIAL quality aside, that type PPP structure has worked elsewhere, and can be made to work in our state as well with time.
Quality of service is not about DEMU/EMU alone. If India railways (IR) alone does it, they would care only about their domain - drop people off at their stations which too are not that good today (no offence, but most stations in the city are sub-par today). Moving people from IR stations (last mile, onward connections) is what will make or break CRS.
Basically, you will need a slick service. High quality at low costs are less likely to come from a pure government concern. And a pure private SPV is also not good as there is welfare angle involved, plus the SPV would not be operating in a pure competitive environment. Anyway.
IDS - so this Bengaluru Rail Nigam (BRN) would be part GoK, part Indian Railways. May be, add in a private rail operator (are there any today? Well was there any GVK or GMR before airports were opened?) who could bring in parts of the funds, and operational and technical exprtise.
Anyway. Whatever the structure, city needs a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), with a longer term business plan. Stunts like announcing a DEMU here and EMU there wont cut it.
Operating model
Private operator need not be a part of BRN. It could be an SPV with only IR & GoK, which can be setup with the current 10 Crore seed capital. They will need to work out the financing. The build of the infrastructure could be on the lines of BMRC where specific contracts for specific needs. When it comes to operating the service a look at the Stockholm/London model will be good. I hope BMRC does that with Bangalore Metro also
For example MTR Corp has been named the winner of a concession to operate the Stockholm metro. The Hong Kong transport operator saw off five rival bids for the contract, which runs for eight years with a possible six-year extension.
SL (Equivelant of BMRC) will pay MTR a fixed price of SKr2·4bn a year, and the contract also contains financial incentives worth up to SKr145m a year based on the number of trains run, cleanliness, punctuality and customer satisfaction.
SL will continue to own and maintain the infrastructure, with MTR responsible for operations, customer service, cleaning and snow clearance. Maintenance of the fleet of 500 cars which is currently undertaken by a joint venture of SL and incumbent operator Veolia will be transferred to MTR, which plans to work on the trains in partnership with Norwegian firm Mantena. The 3 000 metro employees will transfer to MTR. During the contract period, the signaling system on one of the lines will be replaced and new train cars will be introduced.
CRs for Bangalore
Basically we need mutli modal transport system. I agree with on connectivity as suggested, high speed trains There needs to be transport connectivity from nearby cities like Doddballapur, Tumkur, Mysore, Davangere, Shimoga, Hassan etc to BIAL. ALso regarding DEMU / EMU, I agree that IR / SWR will not provide the last mile service & its not their domain.
Presently at Majestic Bus Stand ( only out station buses ) is getting shifted & further we will see disturbance at arround Mejestic area once MTERO & Fly-over at Okalipuram Bridge work starts. Also their is lot of disturbance arround Bangalore due to METRO construction. We can not wait for full fledge CRS at this time, so we need CSR with minimum facility ( already we have lost time over 10 years on debate )
Here come the role of State & Urban Ministry ( as I mentioned under JNRUM funding by center ), with help of BMTC & METRO with integration of CRS will make the last mile connectivity. We need special SPV with State & Center funding together & running by private with 5 year as term ( not more then this ). Public & Coprorates can pitch the donation one time for SPV to get the project started in big way. You can see here how CRS on existing track of SWR can be started in a phased manner. With existing stations, in Phasse -1 CRS can be started as you can see below. With new stations, in Phase -2 with new stations, frequency of CRS to be increased. For this we need some improvement on the existing stations : 1. Foot over Bridges for crossing platfroms & road outside the station 2. Approach road to these stations to be improved 3. Vechile parking facility 4 BMTC buse service to be extended to these stations. You can see the current Bangalore SWR track with stations & to build new stations for CRS. 5, Electric line for few lines
Now the SWR tarck has been extended upto Nelamangala, not show in the MAP.
SPV with Center & state funding with some Corporate donations & individual donations, operating by Private on fixed terms can be initiated in parallel. This to take a shape, again will take sweet next three years & we can not afford to loose time at this junction with traffic problem in bangalore, lets geton with minimum facility of CRS ( may be not full fledge one ) till SPV comes into effect.
Secret Railway Projects
Addressing the media in the presence of Union minister of state for railways Muniyappa, Reddy said the Centre was planning to roll out projects based on public-private partnership model. The model envisages building of infrastructure and revenue sharing on a PPP basis.
Out of the 10, five would be submitted to the railway minister Mamata Banerjee before the presentation of the railway budget, so that it could be incorporated in the budget. He, however, refused to divulge details.
Source
Why no details for a project which benefits the public? Why do we need politicians who want to withhold things from public? What if CRS is not one of them will we end up waiting for the next budget? What is the basis of the shortlist from 10 to 5?
Train to BIA announced!!
" Catching a flight will get easier now from Yeshwantpur. The South Western Railway (SWR) is planning to start a push-pull train service to Devanahalli, 1.5 km from the Bengaluru International Airport (BIA). "
http://www.dnaindia.com/bangalore/report_soon-you-can-take-a-train-to-catch-your-flight_1330262
This service once its operational should at no cost be stopped due to poor ridership..this sounds really good.
But Yeshwantpur may not be a good place for starting the train..we should look at alternatives..maybe a train with more stops within the city..guess they plan DMU's for this!
Folks lets get to the core of this and contribute to make it a success..the first commuter rail experiment in Blr!!
Local trains from March!!
Saw this on Suvarna news channel a couple of mins back..
Apparently, Ananth Kumar requested MoS-R for local trains in Bangalore on the lines of Mumbai during the inaguration of Duranto to Calcutta today morning. Muniyappa responded by saying that two local trains ( one to Anekal, another to devanahalli?) would be started by March.
I heard a similar thing yesterday as well (if I remember right), there is plan for a Yeswantpur-Anekal train.
Lets see if this can take off. Some new stations can be built once a train starts plying!!
-Srivatsava V
Train
News was there in todays hindu regarding a passenger (Push-pull) between Yeshvantapur and Anekal to be operated in March. The Yeshvantapur-Devanahalli will operate 3 months later.
Now what happened to trains proposed (EMU"s) betwen Kengeri and whitefield via Yeshvantapur and Yelahanka and whitefield?no news about it after an announcement.
Let us start with DEMU and switchover to EMU once electrified
Electrification is not fully done in many routes, for example, one track of Kengeri-Bangalore not yet electrified, Bangalore-Yeshwantpur-Yelahanka not electrified, Yeshwantpur - Byappanahalli not electrified. Hence, to start with, DEMUs are good enough, once tracks are electrified, it is better to switchover to EMUs.
If we wait for EMUs, this project would get postponed to another 1 more year.
Local Train for Bangalore
Its greate news for starting local train ( push pull ), some where things are going start without delay. They should start this type service between Bidadi, Whitefiled, Devanahalli, Nelamanagala, Dodballapur, Anekal, Kolar and Hosur
Hope Bangalore South MP Mr Ananth Kumar takes up further this CRS with Minister for State for Railways to get the full fledge services in a year. Hope once Track electrification is over, they may start EMU / DEMU. But other question remains : After Yelahanka its single track, when they will do it??? Also many stations need to be upgraded for basic facility like foot over bridge, vechile parking, provision for BMTC buses to play to stations. These are very well done in case New Mumbai station built during 1995-98, stations are also very well maintained with nulti story, vechile parking facilty, bus stand facility. In the same line, State Govt & Railway should take up with start.
Train to BIA
Finally its great to hear that the Local trains are being introduced to BIA (Devanahalli), For now BMTC should the Vayu Vajra service from the Devanahalli Railway station to the Airport Bus stand. Meanwhile if a track is laid by SWR from the Devanahalli station to the BIA airport with BIAL's consultation (would say like along the compound area so that doesnot eat away the airports land) , I am sure this will be a successful venture.
We should have Short and Long Term Plans for CRS Bangalore
We need to list out Short and Long Term Plans :
Short term plans I would suggest is:
1. Getting the service to kick off instead of waiting for infrastructure - Otherwise it would become like IT job for a fresher - Without job one cannot get experience, without experience one cannot job. Start somewhere.
2. Routes Identification - The dilemma begins here with so many suggestions of routes by every person.
I believe, to start with, we should have smaller distances like Kengeri to Whitefield and the probable extension to say Bidadi to Bangarpet or so. Longer distances needs more rolling stocks and more operating costs. Occupancy may not be good and resulting in losses finally railways to think to stop investing in this. Once the smaller routes gain success, extensions could be chalked out. Profits in small routes can compensate for losses in long routes.
3. Getting Necessary Rolling Stock - DEMUs or Push Pulls - Most of the tracks are not electrified. People in Bangalore would always say I need airconditioned comfort, but railways may not provide A/C coaches. Mumbai having run the services for so long still have not got A/C rolling stock. Can they start with Bangalore?
Providing A/C rolling stocks would increase the PT ridership as we have seen the difference between normal BMTCs and Vajras. Atleast some people came out of 2 wheelers and cars to ride BMTCs (like me ofcourse). Also railways can make margin in the A/C coaches which can provide cheaper tickets to normal coach riders.
4. Improvement in Signalling infrastructure side by side for smaller block sizes.
5. Improvement of stations on the corridor such as increasing and improving platforms, increasing ticketing counters (automated counters like platform ticket vending machine with single fare throughout the system as done in Bogota, Curitiba bus system would be better).
6. Identification of proper timings which would benefit commuters and without much disruption of long distance trains since long distance trains and local trains will be sharing the track.
Easy solution is our EDGE station concept discussed in Praja. Start long distance trains out of Yeshwantpur, Whitefield or KR Puram, Kengeri, Anekal. People can switchover to local trains to reach SBC.
Once the tracks are quadrapled where train traffic is high as in the case of Bangalore - Byappanahalli, or doubled where track is single and traffic is low as in the case of Byappanahalli-Salem track, these trains can resume normal operation.
Long Term Plans:
1. Electrification
2. Quadrapling or doubling based on traffic density and feasibility.
3. Circular Track connecting Whitefield to Kengeri and Yelahanka to bypass SBC.
4. Extensions to subarban cities like Channapatna, Bangarpet, Tumkur.
Already IDS has posted a lot on that after doing and experiencing personally. Praja members can add to that.
Local Train / BMLTA interested but SWR not interested
After announcemnt by the MOS for Railways Mr K H Muniyappa for Two corridor local trains after request by Bangalore South MP Mr Ananth Kumar,.. After going thru, all the related meeting information on CRS, I am finding that BANGALORE METROPOLITION LAND TRANSPORT AUTHORITY ( BMLTA ) had several meeting for CRS system for Bangalore since 2007 till Dec'2009.
BMLTA is a high powered committee consisting of Chief Secretaroy of Karnataka, MD of KSRTC, MD of BMTC, General Manager of SWR, MD of BMRC, experts from Centeral Govt on Transportation. They had appointed RITES for the suitable multi modal transport system for Bangalore city.during 2007. ( Earlier in Jan’ 2003 also RITEs had submitted the proposal for CRS to state Govt. and recommended further improvement of rail infrastructure ). After the report submitted to BMLTS for CRS from RITES. BMLTA had three meetings on 28th Nov’07, 6th May’2008 and 3rd Oct’2008 where in Railway offical were complete absent on 2nd & 3rd meeting (it shows the bad attitude of the SWR senior officers for Bangalore city traffic, its under Mr Lalu regime) ( Instance / Point No1 where SWR senior officer not bothered about the Local Requirement ) the and attended 1st meeting only.
On 21st Oct’2008 BMLTA had assigned the work of CRS to KRIDE under and SWR has agreed to consider the CRS proposed by RITES. Here note the point : Divisional Railway Manager Mr Akhil Agarwal at the time of Oct’2008 was also present in the meeting of 21st Oct’2008. and even agreed to integrate METRO station with Yesvanthpur station upgradation work ( nothing is happening on this ). Now we find that only Yesvanthpur to Devanahalli and Yesvanthpur to Anekal are going to start
Next meeting of BMLTA was held on 22nd Dec’2009 with Additional Divisional Railway manager had atteded with DRM. ADRM has informed in the meeting that they are planning to run CRS connecting International airport to Bangalore city station via Yesvathpur, terminal below Trumpet Interchange near airport with Ticketing counter by BIAL. Other corriod between Cantonment station to Devnahalli and Yesvathpur to Electronic City ( on Hosur road crossing near KARAMELARAM station. ). Here you have seen the statement of DMR of SWR for the starting of CRS. Now you will read the proposal of SWR without any commitment on starting of the above services and change of corriodor with different attitude by SWR in the next meeting.
Their was next meeting on 28th April 2009 DRM of SWR attended and explained about the development in SWR Bangalore region ( no relevance to the CRS ). He has informed to the BMLTA that they SWR are planning to start services from Yesvanthpur to Anekal ( completely changed the Corridor ) after studying the existing train timings ( how SWR has fooled the BMLTA, when no local trains exists on this section). ( Instance / Point 2 ). Here also SWR did not consider the RITES proposal for CRS for Bangalore city. ( This is 3rd attempt by SWR not to encourage the CRS for Bangalore city ) When the Committee has asked specifically DMR of SWR to come out with specific dates for the starting of services, he has assured the Committe that Works should commence in a month time ( this is in the month of April’2009, its already 10 months getting over ) ( Instace / Point 4 of SWR not to start the CRS )
Their was next meeting held on 18th Nov’2009, its back to square : Principal Secretary & IDD of Karnataka Govt to work on the proposal of CRS between Yesvanthpur to Anekal ( now RITES proposal has no mention & its already 8 months still in proposal stage). In this meeting IDD has been assigned to study the CRS connecting all peripheral station within 60 days ( 18th Jan2010 will be 60 days getting over, here SWR is not in the picture ). We have to wait till 18th Jan for the proposal & SWR may not bother to iconsider this one once again.
Now SWR wants to studey the traffic density on this corrdior ( what an attitude of SWR, with Minister of State for Railways is from Karnataka ). Also there is heavy passanger traffic from Yesvnthpur to KR puram and Yesvnthpur to Yelahanka also. Here also note the point of SWR attitude : When they are going to operate from Yesvanthpur instead of Kengeri or Bangalore city, this is to ensure that CRS is big failure. We will not allow this to happen, we will promote this in a big way in all offices & all of us should take montly passes to ensure that their is a enough passanger & with this we ensure that full fledge CRS will start soon & defeat the SWR intention.
Also their are three readings further details in Deccan Chronical for further reading:
Here you will find how SWR is planning to get this service to be backfirred an expert comment.
1. Will trains to city get on track?
http://www.deccanchronicle.com/bengaluru/will-trains-city-get-track-119
2. Old railway lines, new trains
http://www.deccanchronicle.com/bengaluru/old-railway-lines-new-trains-118
3. Express fix: Local train network soon
http://www.deccanchronicle.com/bengaluru/express-fix-local-train-network-soon-194
Now I request every one who is interested in CRS for Bangalore to take this challange of SWR atttitude and make big success of CRS.
@sanjeev
You make some good points but please dont spam. I am surprised Hyderabad got MMTS from railways pretty easily. We are still struggling with SWR. Time to put some pressure?
Sanjeev - Do NOT paste full articles
Articles from commercial newspapers are copyrighted stuff, please, provide only a link or simple summary and not copy paste the full thing. Copy pasting full articles is just not right or ethical.
Pathetic SWR
I am unable to understand why SWR is showing such a stepmotherly attitude to the CRS, now again with utter carelessness they are proposing to start the train service in March just for the sake of it, We need to think how to make the initial train service a success so that SWR doesnot comeup with ridership issue. Can we plan to take a petition to Mr Muniyappa and get the SWR heads to work in a efficient way.
I am willing to make time for
I am willing to make time for preparation of petitions and we can surely work for the benefit of all bangaloreans.
Well initial train will be a sucess provided bus services connecting railway stations are available and more publicity in vernacular dailies on the same.Mr.Muniyappa needs to be apprecaited for taking initiative on the same for bangaloreans.It is upto us to set the ball rolling
Petitions are due by Jan 15
CRS / BMLTA authority Vs SWR
As one visits the Website of BMLTA www.bmlta.org and go thru' the meetings and sub committee meetings. Its found that SWR has consistently maintained that existing track system in Bangalore city is very much saturated & can not be spared for CRS system. I really appreciate the efforts of BMLTA on the CRS system to push lethargic SWR senior officers to give solution for running the CR, SWR has maintained stand against CRS since 2007 onwards in BMLTA all meetings. Senior officers of SWR has asked for seperate track to run CRS in Bangalore ( in this forum all of you know that their is under utilized track in many places in Bangalore )
If any one goes thru' the new trains introduced to West Bengal and Bihar in the last three years, SWR has given full importance to WB & Bihar. Example here is Duronto Express within one month of time started. Now its very much clear even State Govt wants to start CRS, SWR is not willing. Thier is heavy goods train movement on the northern Bangalore track even during the day time also.
Its high time we all of us sit together and prepare petitions. I am ready to collect as much as information on the CRS. Even if required we need to file Public Interest Litigation ( PIL ) in High Court to get the SWR to start CRS in full service.
We need frequent Garib Rath/Jan Shatabdi/Duranto to Mysore
So many trains are running to Mysore and none of them serve for regular Bangalore-Mysore passengers. Mysore is considered as an extension of Bangalore station like Yeshwantpur and trains that should have been stopped in Bangalore is extended to Mysore. In these trains, most of the compartments are reservation compartments and reservation compartments runs empty upto Bangalore since reservations are from Bangalore or upto Bangalore. Unreserved compartments are crowded. No one wants to do reservation just for 2-3 hrs.
Traffic between two cities is ever increasing on the road, a 2 hr journey when 4 laning was done has become back to old days of 3 hr again due to traffic. KSRTC buses are so expensive here, 240 rupees for a Volvo ride wheras Shatabdi which covers distance in 2 hrs costs 275 rupees along with food serving within train. But, there is only one trip of Shatabdi.
So many Garib Raths, Durantos, JanShatabdis are started across the country, none on this stretch. If we could get a Duranto or Garib Rath or JanShatabdi running between two cities (just 2 cities and no extensions please ), it would be result in convenient,economical 2 hr travel. Cost of a Garibrath/Duranto for A/C seater would be around 150 rupees seeing the costs in other stretches for the same distance. Why can't we have between two cities making 4 trips (2 to and fro trips) or even 6 if possible. Janshatabdi non A/C would just cost 60-70 rupees with push back seats and which everyone could afford. Duranto is hot now, we should get it.
Petition Details
Hello Everyone,
Can each of us list out the points that need to be included in the Petition so that Raghu can add all these points and prepare the draft copy of the petition.
Few points from me
1) Rail Track to be laid from the Devanahalli station to the BIA airport with BIAL's consultation (*somewhere closeby to the Airport, if possible near the parking lot).
2) Starting of CRS in Bangalore : a) Kengeri to whitefield (MEMU). b) Nelamangala to Whitefield (DEMU).
3) Circular Railway line for Bangalore.
List to follow..
Petition Details
Points from my side on CRS for PETITION :
You can refer the www.bmlta.org and lot of information regarding the meetings availabale http://www.bmlta.org/BMLTA/meetings to extract for petition ( related to decisions of BMLTA )
1. New Foot over bridge to be extended at Yesvanthpur station from platfrom -1 crossing NH-4 and similarly at Cantonment station front side.
2. New track to be provided at Okalipuram Bridge ( near platfrom Road ) to connect Track from Malleshwaram side to Track coming from Cantonment station and similarly to connect track near the Bangalore East station to Banswadi station. This will help circular track within city where METRO is not running.
3. Parking Facilty at Hebbal station with Foot over bridge crossing station and ring Road & similarly at other stations
4. Parking Facilty & Approach road to be improved at all suburban stations
5. BMTC to run the regular buses ( at the CRS train timings ) to connect near by places.
6. Integrated monthly pass / Daily Ticke for all three types of Transport : METRO, BMTC & CRS
7. List of New 16 Station to be constructed at
1. RPC LAYOUT, 2. BINNY MILL ROAD, 3. SHESHADRIPURAM, 4. KUMAR KRUPA ( BDA ) 5. COX TOWN, 6. MADRAS ROAD 7. HENNUR ROAD 8. NAGAVARA 9.RAJAJINAGAR 10.GOKULA 11. HMT ( JALHALLI ) 12. GKVK 13.JAKKUR AERODROM 14. NEAR INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT 15. HOSUR ROAD INETERSECTION OF SELAM TRACK, 16. MARATHALLI CROSSING
8. Double Track from Yelahanaka upto Devanahalli and Yelahanak upto Dodballapur
9. Already Bangalore city and arround, we have 30 Railway stations to use for CRS : Bidadi, Hejala, Kengeri, Jaanabharathi, Nayandahalli, Bangalore city, Cantonment, Banaglore East, Baiyyappanahalli, KR Puram, White Field, Malleshwaram, Yesvanthpur, Lottegolahalli, Kodigehalli, Yelahanka, Betta Halsoor, Dodajala, Devanahhali, Rajanakunte, Chikbanavar, Soledevanahalli, Gol Halli, Nelamangala, Belandur Road, Heelalige, Karmelaram, Anekal, Tanisandra and Channasandra
10. Yelahanka to Anekal and to Chikaballapur local train to be started.
11. Their is track upto HAL ( for BEML ) and same can be used for running CRS from Bangalore city to HAL.
12. Yelahanaka station to be upgraded on priority to terminate many long distance trains.
Expecting others to provide inputs and make this petition.
Project to create and submit/ail the pettion
All,
Let us create a project to build this petition - that way all pettion activities can be seen by all in one place. We can host the online version of the petition here, and mail a copy to the railway minister.
-SB