Commuter Rail - Will it really help ?

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for nature cannot be fooled" - Richard P Feynman, Physicist, 1918-1988. Suhas, IDS - both of you are very correct. My point is that if a suburban rail network is planned "where land is available", or "on existing tracks", or because it is a "proven technology", it will fail, as it has in various other cities. In the other larger cities, the development of suburban rail systems was more at the whims of politicians in an effort to claim credit & to garner fresh votes, come election time, with no detailed considerations for users - truly in vintage India's socialistic style ! The most appropriate technology is the one that meets the needs of the customers, & one that is shaped with full focus on users. As IDS pointed out, other than Byappanahalli, which is going to be a very large multi-modal center, none of the other CRS stations are well connected & linkages are non-existent, as of now. Malleswaram CRS station will also have an interchange with Metro phase-1. Whitefield, Hebbal & Yelahanka CRS stations might have interchanges during phase-2, but this is too far away. BMTC buses may be the only answer till then, if such is possible & planned well, but land issues for road widening & bus stations are the real obstacles. The remaining CRS stations have very poor transport links with bus since none of the mass transits may pass near them, even in the distant future. Given these facts, will CRS really be effective ? IDS - as regards bus services running parallel to Metro: In some cases, this may be unavoidable over some lengths as Metro runs mostly on the main arterial roads, over which buses will also have to be run. Further, the user types for bus may be different : For example, vendors with large baskets to & from city market /KR Puram - this group is highly bus dependent & this will continue as they would still need to use buses since Metro might not permit them, as I had mentioned elsewhere. A second example is school /college going students & staff - who would perhaps prefer to avoid a transfer & the time penalty involved + higher costs. A third example are the lower rungs of society, such as the deliverymen, the laborers, the factory workers, for whom higher costs are not acceptable for daily or regular commutes, & some delay in reaching their destinations is acceptable. The point here is that the reality in this country is quite different from existing international principles, where there is'nt much of a difference between the Metro user or the bus user. Maybe this is the reason why Delhi metro has not attracted much of a user base, despite it's well marketed image. As such, the targeted Metro users are the office executives, IT professionals, businessmen, students from professional colleges or school goers from higher rungs - the same groups that presently use cars, demand multi-level garages, flyovers & urban expressways. If we have to successfully address our congestion problems, we would have to align our transport systems based on these realities.

Vasanth, I agree with your assessment about the need for CRS for suburbanites. You forgot to mention the Hosur route (Selam Line), which also transports a lot of people. As SB mentioned, I dont see this service being used much by the normal city dwellers, other than perhaps for an unusual out of routine visit or errand to a nearby town. SB, I dont think completely new routes would be possible like what you mentioned (Chandapur to Jigani, Yeshwantpur to Peenya, Whitefield to Hoskote, etc.) since land issues will come up & halt progress, similar to the airport expressway, as all these are now close to the city & estate prices have shot up. SWR's maps show that additional tracks are being added along the following routes : 1) City Station to Whitefield (2 additional tracks), 2) City Station to Ramnagaram (Mysore route), 3) Yeswantapur to Tumkur (Hubli Route). Also, a new single line is being built from Kengeri to Chamarajanagar, via Kanakapura. IDS, You are right about the need to try to widen the user base by trying as many innovations as possible, but these have to stay within the restrictions that we have. Vendors changing over to better packaging is not an objective - they are not permitted because terrorists can smuggle in bombs in the guise of vegetable containers & cause havoc (they have been doing such things routinely). To address this sort of threat, the only solution is to restrict such items from being loaded onto the Metro coaches, as is being done at Delhi. Small school children need supervision & security during their commutes & therefore go by school buses, which offer point to point services & take them right into their school campus. The Metro cannot do this, & therefore, the school buses will continue to operate, even after the Metro is functional. The older high school children will also try to use this bus since school buses have to run anyway, would probably be cheaper & more convenient than Metro because they get them right into their schools. So also school staff. Likewise, the poorer sections would not venture onto the Metro, simply because cost would be the deterrent. Even if they have to walk some distance to & from the bus stop each end, they would do it to pay a lesser fare. The Metro fares cannot compete with ordinary low-cost bus fares, for sure, including monthly passes ! Thus, we have to have buses too & cannot expect all sections to use the Metro for all commutes, though of course, it would be best to try to get as many to use it as is possible.

Vasanth,

The station for Whitefield along existing CRS tracks is inconvenient for many, though it may be useful for some. The distance from ITPL, Hoody & the commercial hubs near Brookefield is a disadvantage.

IDS,

I dont think CRS is out, but it is not in either, the way it is today. The city could benefit a lot if it is planned, operated & managed in an efficient manner, with close co-operation with other transport modes. What I have been trying to emphasize is that if CRS is taken up & operated in the traditional, vintage 'Indian Railways' style, then it is bound to bleed the exchequer, as it has been doing in other cities.

Track additions are already underway by SWR, as enumerated above. I dont think it will be practical for Metro to run along CRS tracks, even if modification of tracks to suit the gauge is possible since except for a few nodes, most of the track routes pass along unimportant areas, even within the city. The lines that could be considered for what you say are :

1) Deepanjalinagar to City station.

2) City Stn to Byappanahalli (via Cant Raliway Stn).

3) City Stn to Yeshwantpur.

4) Yeswantapur to Byappanahalli (via Hebbal).

Most of these will be connected by Metro Ph-1 itself, passing through many of the important activity centers. As such, it may not be worthwhile to explore this option.

As Vasanth has rightly assessed, the CRS service is more suitable for out-of-towners, who will arrive & disembark at some convenient station & transfer to either the Metro or a bus, provided such options are made available.