Halt massive Bangalore Metro investments, give satellite town connectivity its due first

We are late, but, whether or not we choose one model over the other, we have lost the plot on 2 counts. One that there is already an economy which ties in the sattellite brownfield towns you cant walk away from. Two that ribbon development & lack of zoning is only pushing this into a crisis. Answer 2 both is to attack them simultaneously, not one or the other.

Build commuter rail & control zoning along the corridors, dont allow sprawl in the form of ribbon development along each & every road/transport infra that is being built. Follow the concept of street categorization & make them function as per the definition. Develop/Redevelop areas to ensure spatial geometry allows for open areas & mixed use along specific categories of roads with public transport. Break up BMRDA region into multiple corporations & decentralize with clear zoning & plan guidelines.

GoK get your f****** town planning act together. You cant sleep on the job anymore. Dont think you know everything, or need have ALL the people inhouse, ask a wide variety of people & come to an informed conclusion. DO IT FAST. 

I second the thoughts of stopping Phase 2 of the metro with a pre-escalation estimated cost of 26,000 crores. It can give you 400kms of commuter rail 3 times over at the current estimated cost.

GoK, give people a reason why commuter rail is not being done & then move ahead with whatever else you are doing. Let people then be the judge.

I am definitely taking  a stance against the metro till such time the commuter rail is put on stream concretely & not just in words. I will also support any activity which will go against the metro as I believe it is prioritizing a few rich people first over the broader population.

Sri,

You are absolutely right. DULT's BRT proposal for Bangalore was shelved citing investments made in the METRO for Bangalore and in balancing act the previous Shettar's govt took the BRT project to Hubli/Dharwar. This is a confirmed news from DULT sources.

METRO may not be directly responsible, but its huge investment requirements are making cash strapped governments NOT to pursue other equally important projects for the city. In effect, other cost effective solutions are becoming victims of METRO investment needs.

Time to call on the planners, politicians to sit back and judiciously decide what the city needs are and how best it can be met. Let not one fancy project ruin the other ones.

It is the temple near the T-junction of ORR and Bannerghatta Road opposite Mandovi Motors (source - https://twitter.com/MDNammaMetro/status/354842105132224512)

Nice thoughts & some sensible questions about the future of BMRDA regions (& good to see the shift away from BMRC bashing!).

It is clear that metro (in all phases including ph-3) is not being planned to areas beyond Kengeri, Hoskote, Doddaballapur, BG Park. In fact, places outwards of PRR are not being considered in line with CTTP. Even these, if at all they get cleared by GoK /GoI & do materilize, would take a decade or more. Attention is naturally high for connectivity along various routes because of the very slow daily commute options for several urban million, as compared to a few lakhs for suburban rail.

Metro is passing through many poor areas - Majestic, City mkt, Chikpet, Yeshwanthpur, Dasarahalli, Peenya, etc in ph-1 itself whilst in ph-2, it includes Irshad nagar, Tannery rd, Nagawara, etc. Thus, it certainly is not passing through only rich areas but all areas & for the broader population (not for a few rich people) - & it is by no means a fancy project. It has been tested in hundreds of cities abroad & in two Indian cities as well. Besides, CBDs in Bangalore (unlike other cities) are very widely dispersed & quick connectivity is essential from various areas to all others without having to waste hours on commuting.

Though I agree that suburban rail must be pursued with just as much vigor as metro, I will repeat that metro planning need not be paused or halted just because attention is low on suburban rail. Rather, authorities need to perk up attention for suburban rail substantially since there is no other sensible way to provide connectivity to those places that lie along rail tracks upto the satellite towns & also spread out populace by offering them commuting options - what it needs is the SPV which can think like BMRC & plan development.

How much more trackage suburban rail gives for comparative costs of metro is irrelevant as it does not have trackage where it is necessary for the city's millions - i.e. within the city & along the needed corridors. Suburban rail will be catering mainly to suburbanites, satellite towns & some urban pockets en-route & not urban coverage as large as metro. Thus, the city does not need to be held hostage because authorities are not paying enough attention to suburban rail.

The only metro route that I'm not convinced about is the full circle on ORR. Traffic is not so high on western ORR, though it is extermely high on eastern ORR. CTTP had was recommended light rail on west-ORR & BRT on east-ORR, but then this was in 2006-7 & a more current survey may be necessary to check if metro is necessary along the full ORR. BRT's limitations may be a reason but a survey is still necessary to confirm viability & ridership volumes.

NICE rd monorail is nonsesne & will never materialize - BRT is the answer since there is enough width & it is cheap. Mr Kheny should reserve the median space for bus corridors right now since if the road is widened for general traffic, it will become very difficult to reclaim it back for BRT, or does he think his revenues would be lower with BRT? BTW SH16 is in Yadgir dist (not in or near Bangalore).

I think this is pretty obvious - masterplan would be various study reports. CTTP would form the backbone for identifying transport projects & invetsments. In addition to suburban rail, BRT has also been neglected (only token efforts have been made for both these so far).

See table 9.10 of CTTP - briefly, CTTP recommended 137km metro, 60km monorail, 204km commuter rail, 291.5km BRT besides TTMCs, road improvements, PRR, parking facilities, etc. Cost estimates (based on 2007 prices) were as follows: 19921 crs for metro, 5100 crs for mono, 3060 crs for commuter rail, 3498 crs for BRT, etc. Total outlay was estimated at 46944 crs.

Since last CTTP is already 7 years old (& a later BMRDA study by Wilbur Smith did not recommend suburban rail), I think a fresh study is neccessary to update the plan.

You don't know Who is responsible for making sure that CTTP is followed? Again, its obvious that it has to be GoK, & I have mentioned this many times - GoK is responsible & the final authority. Not BMRC or DULT or SWR or BMTC for high level investment decisions.

About whether DULT is doing its job, whether it is being allowed to do its job, or if DULT has done #3, who is responsible to ensure that CTTP is being followed or not, etc etc, GoK alone can provide best answers - better to find out from them.

And by the way, I think BMRC is doing what it should be doing - which is keep planning further development. If an SPV for suburban rail is formed, they should also be doing exactly the same thing. i.e. keep planning further development, irrespective of whether it is viable or not & put it up for consideration. If another SPV is formed for BRT, they should also be doing exactly the same thing - keep planning ahead. It should be GoK to take the final call & shoulder the responsibility on deciding what investments they authorize based on findings - this is how it is supposed to work.

So, your frustration is better directed against GoK, not BMRc or DULT or anyone else. As mentioned earlier, I know GoK has been sleeping on suburban rail & BRT & they need to shake up. However, I cannot support efforts against a body like BMRC that is trying to do its job & because GoK has been sleeping on other things. If one did that, he would be attempting to penalize an institution that is attempting to deliver what it can do as best possible, irrespective of whether its plans are warranted or not.

True there isn't much clarity as to which body in GoK is responsible. It should be BMLTA (DULT's mandate is for other towns in Karnataka - see CTTP 10.6). I'm not sure BMLTA has been accorded independent statutory powers yet & have the necessary staff for transport regulation within BMA. Its best to clarify with Chief secretary or DULT since convenor for BMLTA is DULT commissioner. It has chief & principal secretaries as members amongst many others (http://www.bmlta.org/bmlt...).

CTTP recognizes the co-ordination challenges with railways (chapter-10). This may be the main stumbling block for suburban rail though GoK has at least gone ahead & approved the project & an SPV + written to railways. Disinterest by railways because of heavy losses & unwillingness to take up suburban rail projects may be another obstacle - which is why I have always felt that unless an SPV is in place (with state/city reps), this project will keep limping & struggling.

Cutting ribbons & starting a new train now & then to get some press coverage is not going to move this solidly ahead. On the contrary, it will get bad publicity with poor patronage since timings will be based on what suits SWR & not commuters as we have already seen. Chennai MRTS is struggling for ridership numbers because it is operated by SR & without state having any say even after huge investments have been made on elevated corridors.

I'm not sure there is preferential treatment for BMRC - it may be just that BMRC has been pro-active & came up with a plan to study further expansions. This does not automatically mean that all their plans are approved. Ph-2 has been approved whilst ph-2a & 3 has approval to commission a study at this stage (which is likely to take 18 months).
Also, before moving ahead with future phases, BMRC will need to know in advance to plan their network with interchanges in such a way that it should be possible to commute from any origin point to any destination with minimum no. of transfers. So, they may just only be doing what they are supposed to.

Delays with metro construction & cost escalation is not anything unusual - almost all mega infrastructure projects have these problems & may have more to do with lack of co-operation by other agencies & also by govt itself, such as the statue issue. Delhi metro may have managed to avoid such delays only because of CG's support, so its not a proper comparison.

Routes in ph-2a & 3 are in CTTP - the airport route was recommended from MG rd via Yelahanka whereas BMRC opted to extend the Nagavara route to airport to cut distance. CTTP also recommended another route to Yelahanka from Bommasandra via Nagavara & Thirumanahalli. One of the Ph-3 routes was to be monorail whilst the other was part of airport route. Its just that BMRc has juggled the routes to do away with monorail & minimize track length at the same time.

Light Rail / Monorail, still not clear with more intrests going towards Metro. Tighter roads of Bangalore needs a Mono / Light rail feeder connectivity and few trunk routes along the tight corridors also needs Light  / Mono rail. 

As per cttp report, a light / monorail was proposed for Magadi Road, western half of ORR and ORR via Katriguppe Main Road  passing via vidyapeeta, Hanumanthnagar, core Gandhi Bazaar  to National College Circle. These discussions are in air as of now which would increase speed of commuter speed and accessibility. Already planners are taking of phase 3 metro still when phase 1 is not live yet. 

Mumbai Monorail will be inagurated this September 15th. Turning radius looks very impressive. Can Bangalore learn anything from it once it goes live just like Delhi Metro?

BRT on the eastern ORR between Silkboard and Hebbal also not in news again due to having a Metro over there probably. 

In other words Metro is drawing all investment instead of others.

If we look at Bangalore, the core Bangalore was around  Malleshwaram,Rajajinagar, Chamarajpet, Banashankari, Basavanagudi, Jayanagar & Vijaynagar and localities surrounding Vijaynagar. Later on the surrounding villages and towns got merged into Bangalore. Growth is totally uncontrolled and mostly based on where SEZs and STPI parks were setup such as localities around Whitefield and localities around Electronic City.

Basically there are two types of people who work in Bangalore :

1. Willing to Commute from Core Bangalore

2. Not Willing to Commute longer

Again, among Willing to Commute, we have two types of people:

1. Wants to commute in car in expressways like in the US

2. Wants to commute in public transit

.Only people coming from outside settled around these SEZs to reduce the commute time. Native Bangalorean still resided in the core Bangalore and commuted from there except few who moved nearby their offices. Movement of these people from West , North and Centre of Bangalore to Whitefield or Electronic City is the core problem.

Now, GoK should plan and develop suburbs around Bangalore along the commuter rail corridors and make them self sustainable with hospitals, schools etc. People coming from outside and who wants to settle close to office and not willing to commute can settle here. Those who wants to travel from core Bangalore can use commuter rail.

This suburb should discourage cars with high parking charges wherever they go. People living here should be encouraged to walk or bicycle or take bus.

Just after few months of Delhi Airport Express take over by DMRC  with huge liability ( now finally Delhi Govt &  GOI ) will pump the money thru back door to keep the  project running at the loss of Rs ONE Crore per DAY.

Now next  fallout is Gurgaon Toll Plaza Ministry of Road Transport and Highways's proposal to take over Gurgaon Toll Plaza may cost Rs 130 crore to the government as the project's leading lender is believed to have decided against buying a stake in the highway project.
IDFC had earlier said that it will takeover the entire debt of Rs 1,600 crore of the expressway project, which now the Ministry says will not be taken into consideration, sources said.
 

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/infrastructure/gurgaon-toll-bailout-may-cost-the-exchequer-rs-130-crore/articleshow/22115905.cms

So when we will see the NICE and Bangalore Elevated Tollway Ltd ( BETL) for Hosur Road taking over by GOK with huge baggage???

May be next will be BMRC thing hanging on  the GOK head