CRS Bangalore: A project that never gets the green

The railway budget 08-09 is out. The fares are down. Plea for Bangalore-Arsikere-Mangalore is left un-answered, but we have been blessed with a handful of other trains instead. Also featured in the new budget are more half hearted promises on the same old projects that have been on simmer since more than a decade now (be done with the Gulbarga Bidar line already). As far as Bangalore, in and by itself is concerned, the CRS finds no mention in the 08-09 budget. With this two years would have passed in the Comprehensive Traffic and Transport Plan's Phase I(07-12) with no action on the 204 km CRS project.

We have how-to-get-there problems in all directions - EC, Devanahalli, ITPL, Peenya ... Of the all the plans we have - BRTS, Metro & Mono, the CRS is the cheapest one(15 cr/km) and requires comparatively very little extra to be done. And yet, we have been hearing about this CRS for ages now with no action to match. Why?

In its entirety, the CRS project aims to cover Bangalore's satellite towns and would require 3500 crores in investments in doubling the tracks and electrification on some sections, rolling stock, improvements to stations and ROBS/RUBS. (This is for 204 kms of service, compare with metro costs for 33 kms).

But all the CRS corridors already have atleast one track & the basic stations are there. Given the level of congestion we have, should we wait till every thing else - the double tracks, electrification and the rest of the bells and whistles, all fall in place? In any case one would imagine that even if they take one dedicated year and put in the money to add a few extra facilities to stations at Cant, Y'pur & Whitefield, create a small station at Devanahalli - "BIAL-Rd" and obtain coaches that could mean significant addition to public transport in Bangalore.

So, who should take the inititiative on this? The latest plan we have, the CTTP, reccomends that this be a joint project between the railways and the state government with BMRDA to play act as implementing agency. Railways to pay for railway related infrastructure including rolling stock and O&M( approx one third of the project cost), GoK to cover the cost of expansion of stations, and additional tracks (approx third of the project cost) and BMRDAto cover cost of access roads, parking facilities and passenger facilities (one third of the project cost). Is the monolithic structure of the railways with no sensitivity to local needs that is responsible or is it that failures in Chennai and Hyderabad have made railways vary of intracity projects? or is it the lethargy of local agencies, GoK, BMRDA, SWR that is responsible for lack of any progress wrt CRS?

Table: CRS Plan From The CTTP

CRS for Bangalore

Overview

Per McKinsey report on India’s urbanization to 2030:

• 590 million people will live in cities, nearly twice the population of US today
• 270 million people will be the net increase working age population
• 70% of net new employment will be generated in cities
• 91 million households will be middle class, up from 22 million today
• 700-900 million sq mtr of commercial & residential space needs to be built, or a new Chicago every year
• 2.5 billion sq mtrs of roads will have to be paved, 20 times the capacity created in the past decade
• 7400 kms of metros & subways will need to be constructed, 20 times the capacity added in the past decade

Bengaluru is a leader in this growth. Per the report, it will have more than 10 million people inhabiting it by 2030, of whom; a majority will be from the middle and lower income group. For them, the urban mobility challenge will only increase as the working population increases and hence, commute will become a major quality of life indicator.

Further, research by Center for Ecological Sciences, IISc, reveals a 76% decline in vegetation cover and a 79% decline in water bodies due to the increase in built up space in the urban areas of Bengaluru. This implies that any further significant  net addition within the urban area will result in a decline in standard of living.

How Bengaluru builds its infrastructure & manages this growth will determine if it will continue to lead in taking the country forward or it will become a failure leading to urban chaos.

Growth Center paradigm

CTTP 2007 commissioned by KUIFDC/IDD of GoK had this to say regarding Commuter Rail on existing tracks “With the development of the huge Multiple Economic Activity Areas like Electronic City, I.T. Parks, Industrial & Commercial Areas with consequent job opportunities on the one hand and availability of comparatively cheaper accommodation in surrounding towns like Hosur, Ramanagaram and Tumkur etc. where a large number of working population is likely to live, substantial of commuter movement between these towns and the Metropolis will take place.”

One critical element of this urban operating model of the future is how cities will make and enforce land & space choices. Housing has already become unaffordable in Bengaluru for the lower and middle classes. No city in India has allocated space and zoning for affordable housing. The housing market has a preference to locate close to commercial/urban spaces to increase the premium the houses can fetch. This increases both, the cost & mixed use urban sprawl. Counter magnet cities, with suburban mass transit, is the best and most effective way to focus on affordable housing for middle & lower income groups who will constitute 75% of the future workforce. Nearby suburban towns were often viewed as best options for setting up industries to release growth pressures on the city to absorb new migrants and to relocate some people from the city. It never happened, because a business ecosystem cannot be artificially replaced or relocated. These suburban cities need to be zoned to take the housing pressure off Bengaluru and this can happen only when the option of traveling to Bengaluru quickly and cheaply becomes a reality.

From the McKinsey report one can gather that, for the first time in India’s history, Karnataka along with other large south Indian states will have more people in its cities than in its villages. This means that the pressure on cities will increase considerably in the future to avoid urban sprawl and still manage their growth. Increasing the area of Bengaluru and making it Bruhat Bengaluru has put undue pressure on civic bodies and made the area difficult to manage. The alternate model is to enable suburban cities to become more attractive destinations for settlers & connect them via mass transit trains to within an approximate one hour commute distance from Bengaluru. 

In the past two decades the state government in co-operation with the central government has attempted a few options to address the urban transportation challenges. Namma Metro, Mono Rail, High Speed Rail to BIAL, rejuvenated BMTC service are all examples. While most of these focus on making commute within Bengaluru city easier, the suburban connect is what will bring dividends in the long run. 

Efficiency in operations, more advanced levels of automation in signaling supplemented by close coordination with local authorities in implementing last mile solutions and superior interchange with metro is going to determine the success of the Commuter rail.

The rest of this report will provide recommendations to ensure that the Commuter Rail can be implemented successfully and be counted amongst the best in the world.

2. CRS - What and Where? 

Commuter Rail Service

Objective: Train services connecting suburban growth centers within 1 hour travel distance to Bangalore consisting of disabled friendly airconditioned trains running on existing tracks doubled or quadrupled to ensure high frequency of greater than 20 trains per day between each source destination pair

The Railways vision 2020 plan had this to say about railways vision for suburban rail "Partnerships with State and City Authorities will be established to augment the infrastructure and manage suburban services under a single management. Both suburban and long-distance trains must also look smart and colourful, reflecting our belief in and commitment to ‘Change for a better tomorrow’"

CRS Historical journey

• 1983, Southern Railway team recommends 3 commuter rail lines, and a 58-km ring railway over a 25-year period.

• 1988, RITES transport study report, among other things & also improvements on commuter rail lines

• In 1993, the State established committee to look into mass rapid transit recommended the same circular railway  put forward by Southern Railways in 1983
• 1998 – RITES does survey for Local Trains funded by World Bank
• 2003 – RITES completes survey for Local Trains for State Govt
• 2007 - RITES does survey for Local Trains for BMLTA/IDD department for CTTP2007 Bengaluru
• Jan 2008 – IDD agrees to fund for two Rakes DEMU services
• Nov 2009 – BMLTA assigns work to IDD to study Commuter Rail servicesconnecting all peripheral stations
• 14 Dec 2009 – SWR finally agrees to start few Local Trains to Anekal/Devanhallai, Kengeri as per the BMLTA meeting
• Dec 2009 – MoS Shri K H Muniyappa makes press briefing that State Govt is not yet decided on Local Trains / Commuter Rail Services
• 2 Jan 2010 – MoS Shri K H Muniyappa makes announcement starting of Local Trains between Yeshwanthpur to Anekal and Devanahalli
• Feb 2010 – Bengaluru South MP Shri H N Ananth Kumar request the MoS Railways to take up the Local Train facility similar to Mumbai
• 3 Mar 2010 – CM of Karnataka Shri Yeddyurappa writes letter to Railway Minister to sanction the Local Train Project with 50% project cost to be contributed by State Govt.
   

After 27 years Bengaluru is still waiting for a full fledged commuter rail service

CTTP Map

2.1 Target growth centers for Commuter Rail

2.1.1. Hosur: Distance: 40kms; Population: >1.5 lakhs; Magnets: Anekal Pop:> 0.5 lakh, Electronic City Pop> 3 lakhs

2.1.2. Ramanagara: Distance: 50 kms; Population: >1 lakh; Magnets: Kengeri pop: >0.5 lakh

2.1.3 Tumkur: Distance: 70 kms; Population: > 30 lakhs; Magnets: Nelamangala pop: >0.5 lakh; Peenya & other industrial belts

2.1.4 Chickballapur: Distance: 70 kms; Population: > 0.7 lakh; Magnets: Devanahalli > 0.4 lakh: ITIR

2.1.5 Dodballapur: Distance: 40; Population: > 0.9 lakh; Magnets: Yelahanka > 3 lakhs: Dodballapur Indl area

2.1.6 Bangarpet: Distance: 90 kms; Population: > 0.5 lakh; Magnets: Whitefield, KIADB

2.2. Hubs

2.2.1 Yeswantpur - CRS West Hub

2.2.2 Byappanahalli (Benninganahalli) - CRS East Hub

2.2.3 Yelahanka - CRS North Hub

With trains from Yeswantpur towards Chickballapur & from Byappanahalli towards Dodballapur converging here Yelahanka is well positioned to be the CRS North hub. It serves major industrial regions of ITIR, DBP, BIA & Dodballapur. With a stop for HSRL also, this station needs to be developed into a multifunctional hub and taken up on the lines of Yeswantpur & Byappanahalli.

2.3. CRS Routes

2.3.1 Yeswantpur - Yelahanka - Devanahalli - Chickballapur

2.3.2 Byappanahalli(Benninganahalli) - Jakkur - Yelahanka - Doddballapur

2.3.3 Yeswantpur - Byappanahalli(Benninganahalli) - Anekal - Hosur

2.3.4 Tumkur/Nelamangala - Yeswantpur - Byappanahalli(Benninganahalli)

2.3.5 Yeswantpur/Yelahanka - Byappanahalli(Benninganahalli) - Whitefield - Malur - Bangarpet

2.3.6 Yelahanka - Yeshwantpur - NICE PRR/City - Kengeri - Ramanagara

2.4. Commuter Rail Segments

 2.4.1 Yeswantpur to Byappanahalli(Benninganahalli) segment

As seen from the above table, out of the total catchment of 6.71 lakh people 37.1% of the population along the route do not have access to the service because of lack of station in the vicinity

In order to ensure full coverage the following stations are proposed along the route

Proposed additional stations:

1. Gokula Extension/Badappa Gardens
2. ORR/D Rajagopal Rd Junction
3. Guddadahalli
4. Kanakanagar
5. Irshad Nagar/HBR Layout
6. Kadugondhalli

2.4.2 Byappanahalli to Hosur

As seen from the above table, out of the total catchment of 5.55 lakh people 12.6% of the population along the route do not have access to the service because of lack of station in the vicinity

In order to ensure full coverage the following stations are proposed along the route

Proposed additional stations

1. Angel Arcade/Kagagadasapuram
2. ORR Jn @ Karthik Nagar
3. Varthur Rd Junction / Chinnapanahalli
4. Chandapur

RITES report on Implementation of Commuter Rail for Bengaluru

ಮೇಲೆ

889 users have liked.

The draft report of the Implementation of Commuter Rail for Bengaluru has been released by RITES to DULT. DULT has shared the report with us for our comments. We are expected to profvide our feedback before 30th of this month. SO do leave your feedback as comments to this thread. 

 

RITES Draft Report on CRS-Bangalore

Commuter / suburban rail - part II

Branching off from "Commuter-rail-will-it-ever-materialize" thread as it got too long. The IDD seems to be moving in the direction of surveying for CRS (item 3, pp. 2). It is unknown how much it / govt. can influence SWR. In other words, why spend the resources (money, time) on studies if there are no 2-way MoUs between the state govt. and the Railways? Now only if the prajagalu attending the BMLTA meet can bring it up on priority ...

Some other questions for BMLTA might be:

• the frequency and agenda of the meetings (seem to be too far apart). Of course, w/o any legal teeth yet, meetings may be moot.
• the transport commissioner seems to not be a part of the deliberations (deliberately? ;-)). Or, may not have attended this particular meeting.

To admin - if the link or information was posted earlier, please feel free to move it to the comments section of the original link.

Unrelated items:

• item 8 mentions bus shelters still by BBMP? *puzzled*
• section 6/7 - there is no mention of Scomi/Geodesic. Why would IDD again prepare the DPR if Geodesic already submitted one? Different alignment?

(if people want to discuss these topics, please copy/paste this info and branch off into the appropriate threads).

Limited information posted on BMLTA's site is very frustrating (but better than no information).

Commuter Rail - Will it ever materialize ?

Most of us are aware that the CTTP-2007 report had recommended a Commuter /Sub-urban rail system for the city, totalling 204.0km (this includes city & suburban services upto Tumkur, Hosur & Ramanagaram). A few sub-urban trains are in operation & are being run by Southwestern railways (SWR), but the system is not of much help to urban commuters.

Please also see earlier discussions on this subject here, here & more recently here.

Within the city & the more developed suburbs, the following (twenty-two) stations already exist, but many of these stations are not much used :
1)  Yelahanka
2)  Chikkabanavara
3)  Kodigehalli
4)  Lottegollahalli
5)  Hebbal
6)  Yeswantapur
7)  Chennasandra
8)  Banaswadi
9)  Krishnarajapuram
10) Bangalore East
11) Whitefield
12) Malleswaram
13) Cantonment
14) Byappanahalli
15) City Station
16) Nayandahalli
17) Gnanabharti
18) Kengeri
19) Bellandur Rd
20) Karmelaram
21) Heelalige
22) Anekal Road

Except for four of the larger inter-city train stations, ie. (6), (9), (13) & (15), the other 18 stations are used very little. Can city service trains be run through these stations & could they be put to better use than they are at present ? On the drawing below, one can see the planned Metro tracks (phase 1 & also phase 2, as will most likely be built) in the backdrop of SWR's tracks :


( Click for larger image )

The following CTTP recommended routes would certainly be needed since the areas covered by CRS are not going to be served by Metro routes :

a) Kengeri to City Stn - 13 km
b) City Stn to Whitefield (via Cant R'ly Stn, Baiyyappanahalli) - 24 km
c) City Stn to Baiyyappanahalli (via Hebbal) - 23 km
d) Lottegollahalli to Yelahanka - 7 km
e) Banaswadi to BMA boundary (via Bellandur rd) - 29 km
( Total = 96 kms )

The fewer interfaces with Metro might not pose obstacles & could be overcome by connecting bus services to CRS stations. There are only 22 stations over the 96 kms of track. Thus, the average distance between stations is over 4.3km - additional CRS stations would be necessary - some ideas are as follows (marked with blue spots on the map above) :

a) On Kengeri-City Stn route: (23) near RV Engg College; (24) Deepanjali Nagar Metro stn; (25) Hosahalli main rd.
b) On City Stn-Whitefield route: (26) Seshadripuram (Sivananda store); (27) Jeevanahalli; (28) Beniganahalli (ORR); (29) Devasandra; (30) Hoodi; (31) Sadarmangal Ind Area.
c) On City Stn-Baiyyappanahalli route: (32) Jalahalli (ORR); (33) MS Ramiah rd; (34) Gundappa rd; (35) Kanaka nagar; (36) Kadugondanahalli.
d) On Banaswadi-BMA boundary route: (37) Beniganahalli (ORR); (38) Kaggadasapura; (39) Chinnappanahalli; (40) Varthur rd; (41) Sarjapura rd; (42) Chandapura (Hosur rd).

These additional stations would reduce the average distance between stations to about 2.3km, which is more appropriate for a suburban rail system.

SWR might have it's reasons for repeatedly rejecting operation of city rail services in Bangalore - such rail systems are faring poorly in almost every city in the country barring Mumbai, but then in India, city rail systems are directly being operated by divisions of Indian railways whose primary focus area is the operation of inter-city train services. Further, the other transport systems in use in the cities (such as buses, taxis, etc.) were never planned nor integrated for easy transfer of passengers between different modes. Each operated independently on it's own, sometimes even competing with one another & making commuting difficult for people. Thus, most cities continue to have transport systems that are not well-knit & therefore, inefficient, & this also explains why city rail systems have fared so poorly in the country.

We now have a situation where SWR has a lot of assets such as tracks, real estate & stations, but is clearly not the best option to build & operate the city /suburban rail system. It might be best if BMRCL could become the operator for CRS, sharing the infrastructure with SWR.

Commuter Rail - Will it really help ?

As most of us are aware, the track record of suburban railways in the larger Indian cities has been pathetic. Other than Mumbai, there is'nt a single example where such a service has successfully attracted commuters & helped reduce road congestion. Most of them have been total failures.

The Delhi circular rail has been a complete failure & is used more for goods trains. Patronization levels are extremely poor, not to mention their Metro, which has also not fared well, thus far.

Chennai MRTS has been a total flop, but since they have already invested so much, there is no going back & other phases continue to be built, with a hope that revival might be around the corner once connectivity improves with the newer phases.

Hyderabad MMTS was losing about 1 crore each month. Currently, patronage levels are on the rise, probably due to high road congestion levels & also since many may be finding it a useful alternative to reach the newer technology clusters.

Kolkata's extensive suburban rail system includes a circular railway as well as a dedicated rail to connect to the airport. The circular & airport rail services are said to carry passengers numbering in single digits, sometimes. The Kolkata Metro has also not been successful, but all continue to run, since they have been installed.

Thus, investments estimated to cost hugely have tended to be put forward, without considering long-term implications of operating costs, passenger volumes & revenues. Given this abysmal record on cost, construction period lengths & poor traffic, the question is should we be investing in Commuter rail for Bangalore at all ?

To start with, the service would be handicapped with severe route restrictions, confined to only the existing track routes. Unless connectivity with Metro or faster bus services are provided from stations, this service may also end up in the same way.

One can understand why SWR has been so hesitant to get involved with this.

Commuter Rail System - for us?

Hello All, I've been regularly peeping into this site to see what’s going on, my interest began with the launch and delay of BIAL and I’ve been hooked on, KBsyed, idontspam, A mahesh, devesh and others ...i know all of you by reading your thoughts over the last year and hopefully you will continue to add your ideas.

Ok to begin with I was pleasantly surprised to know Hyd had a CRS within the city...attached are some pictures of the system..its impressive...while i think all other efforts like the metro and high speed link are all good options we should play around with this option too..Has anyone tried this before? i maybe late in suggesting this and there must be a reason for a seemingly good option not being implemented sooner?

Apparently the cost is about 328 cr for the second phase!!! Reasonable ah? also considering we have a extremely good railway network covering the Mysore road area, Yeshvantpur, BIAL (devanahalli) Electronic City  and Whitefield it may just be more realistic....

This is the link to the pictures as I am not sure how to update these on this website: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?p=4328669#post4328669

Commuter Rail can make our city better

CTTP has all the details for improving transport facilities in Bengaluru through various options. While the Metro / Mono take their own sweet time for completion, making use of the existing railway network on a limited scale on a few routes can be an immediate solution. I understand that the railway lines cover only a certain portion of the city, and local train transport with feeder bus services will have a great impact for that portions. The Kengeri-Whitefield route can be a pilot route as it is already an electrified double track. With the BMTC & private industrial managements, including software tech parks providing feeder services from their respective places to the nearest terminals, this can be a very effective solution in the immediate future. Our daily traffic situation is only growing worser day-by-day and i believe if this is implemented in a small way, our city can become better.

Commuter rail for Bengaluru - state not interested?

First up, happy new year 2010 to all. I thought I should pick out one important piece from Sanjayv's summary post on Railway minister's recent announcements for our state. Minister says that 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.

What do we make of it? Is the state govt not "interested", or has not "yet decided" on the project? Taking the text literally, I would think that it is a case of state govt not having spent quality time thinking about the project and possibilities in detail. We haven't seen details of any cost sharing arrangements for this quadrupling project - the ball must be stuck there I assume.

Incidentally, I was at KR Puram station just this morning to pick up my mom. That place, station right next to two trunk roads, a new Metro station not so far away, is one transportation hub going waste.

Marathahalli is a similar place with rail/bus hub potential. So is Whitefield station, with Kadugodi bus stand right next to it. How close is the Wipro office area on Sarjapura Road to a Railway Line and Station? There is no need to mince words here - it is simply shameful to let all these solution opportunities go waste. Yes, its not easy, an eventual solution would involve state, Railway ministry and most likely a private party. But we are talking about possible solution for the only real and visible problem our dear city has today (relative to others in the country).

It will require some planning and investments (mentioned by lot of members over numerous past posts here):

• Satellite railway stations (like how you have KSRTC doing satellite bus stations now) to free up the tracks inside the central city area
• Some rail lines to "ring fence" the city, possibly connecting the satellite stations to further free up long distance rail traffic from going through the city.
• Even with satellite stations, Byppanhalli-Salem single line would require some doubling work. But this one would perhaps be the only line needing doubling work, all other tracks we would want to use are all double.
• And then, the usual coordination elements, the Rail/Bus/Metro connection features - subways, scheduling etc.

I don't really want to stop this post here. But I need help - If someone can support, we can draw these "satellite railway stations", and using cost figures from similar railways projects, even put a rough cost to the project to make Commuter Rail viable for the city.

I will try draw up KR Puram and Marathahalli areas using Google Map/Sketch.

Commuter rail to E-City may happen soon!

I was at a BCIC meeting this week wherein Devesh had invited Mr Arvind Jadhav (GoK's principal secretary for infrastructure development) over for a talk. Mr Jadhav mentioned some exciting plans, we should hear them soon in mainstream media. Commuter Rail Service was one of them, looks like things are moving, and we may get one or two services pretty soon! Here is a summary of CRS stuff that Mr Jadhav mentioned:

• The main problem is this - SWR doesn't have capacity at the times when CRS would get used - peak morning and evening hours. They might have capacity during mid-day hours, but then, whats the point!
• However, they have figured out possibility for a Yeshwantpur (YPR) to Attibele (Electronics City) service. It could start as early as six months from now. This is not official news yet, but Mr Jadhav sounded confident enough.
• Services from YPR to Devanahalli side again has capacity problems, but GoK is pushing for doubling of line between YPR and Yelahanka. Its going to happen, and happen quick.
•  I didn't hear anything concrete on Whitefield, Nelamangala and Bidadi/Ramanagar sides. There is a long pending demand for Nelamangala-Bidadi service, it is being looked into.

Before jumping into details and using them to criticize (will stations be upgraded, how about the fares, is there a business case with just one or two services, will frequencies be good enough, any integration plan with BMTC, quality of coaches etc etc), let us congratulate the government on pursuing this with seriousness and intent. Lets get one foot in the door first, and the we shall see and ask for more - that seems to be the approach here. Not an issue with that sir, we all look forward to building some serious public interest and excitement for a Commuter Rail Service!

Another very interesting thing we heard regarding South Western Railways, and I see this linked to Commuter Rail in the long term was this. An idea being floated is to give SW Railways land near Devanahalli (ten tracks width worth of station) and request them to move some or all of their services from the City station. That would be a master stroke as it'd 1) develop BIAL's airport as a real mobility hub - arrive at Bangalore, take your Shatabdi to Mysore. and 2) it could possibly free up capacity on the tracks within the city to help expand Commuter Rail in future. Yep, it did remind me of this old post (Edge stations ...) here. Either way, I love this line of thinking.

Keep thinking GoK, we look forward to more action on these lines!

[PS: the post is based on my recollection from the talk, there may be some inaccuracies]

DRM's presentation (regarding Commuter Rail etc)

The following interesting points arose from the presentation made by the DRM (Divisional Rly Manager, Mr Akhil Agarwal), and the discussions that followed:

1) Track and platform capacity:
There are some 140 pairs of express (not all of them operating on all days of the week), and 90 pairs of passenger trains operating in and out of Bangalore (I am not sure I got the figures exact; but, they are around these). And, there is continuous pressure from the public to have them arrive/ depart during the peak hours (6 to 8 AM for arrival; 7 to 11 PM for departure).

As such, the tracks and platforms are too clttered presently to operate Commuter trains at desired timings.

Some stretches of tracks (particularly amongst the most busy ones like between Bangalore City and Byappanahally) are currently operating at over 150% capacity, allowing for 2.5 hrs maintenance breaks. Now, I must admit I didn't quite understand this fully, nor many others in the audience. For a non-IR man, 100% capacity would imply that he will then be seeing trains running throughout. But, apparently, IR has certain norms for determining the denominator based on safety and other aspects. Also, the DRM mentioned that unlike in coastal and level terrains like in Mumbai, they have to allow for higher safety factors in hilly terrains like in Bangalore, since the momentum of loaded rakes becomes a crucial factor here. During the discussions that followed, however, it appeared there could be a scope for reviewing these factors, and thereby increasing capacity. And, that's where, I believe, Devesh has requested technical help from PRAJAgalu.

2) Passenger (non-express) trains:
Another matter that became evident was the financial drag caused by the "passenger" (non-express) trains. The operations are totally uneconomical, and it is almost impossible to increase the fares because of vote bank politics. Most of them were introduced by various politicians to serve their respective constituencies, and then it became impossible to withdraw them. Some of them are well patronised (like the ones between Bangalore and Mysore), largely because of the low fares, compared to the bus fares.

And, there are plenty of them in operation eating into track and platform capacity, and during peak hours, denying the IR the opportunity to provide more revenue earning express and goods train services and thereby serve the public and economy better. The so-called social purpose of these operations thus becomes questionable.

An answer may be to offer all the regular commuters on these trains one year's free pass bus pass on KSRTC (paid for by IR), and then to withdraw these services altogether.


3) Additional tracks to Devenahalli:
While adding additional parallel tracks beyond Hebbal may not be difficult, doing that in the inner city is going to be extremely difficult.

4) Shifting of Bangalore City station:
There is no proposal to shift the Bangalore city station to Devanahalli.

Muralidhar Rao

Edge stations, ring rail, and leasing or acquiring SWR assets

Mr M N Srihari, a traffic expert on Yeddy's new elite panel for Bangalore infrastructure has been on the record saying that CRS is a solution for Bangalore. Quoting from this Daijiworld article:

 

“Utilising existing electrified railway lines within a 30-kilometre radius from the city centre and operating diesel-electric multiple units (DEMUs) constitute CRS,” ... each DEMU can have five to 10 coaches and can operate at speeds of 75 kmph. “Operating DEMUs can reduce 25 percent of traffic,” Sreehari said.

25% reduction in traffic!! Assuming the numbers have backing, what more do we need to convince Yeddy and gang to go chase SWR with CRS proposals? Enough is enough. time to take up the subject of commuter rail service for Bangalore. CTTP talks about it (see 7.5 - CRS). Masterplan-2015 has a proposal of utilizing 62 km track on making the commuter service possible in two phases (2007-2012, 2013-2018, each estimated at Rs 325 Cr) at total cost of Rs 650 crores. Things might have been easier if same party ruled at center and state, but we got to try.

Now, on to thoughts about how this could be done, that is - implementing CRS.

Lets talk the analogy of Ring roads, Outer or peripheral. The objective is to keep traffic going through the city (trucks) from coming in to the city. right? Now, do SWR goods trains enter our city? Answer would be yes. Don't have stats, but let us assume that 50% SWR's capacity in the city is consumed by non-passenger services. Given city's dynamics today, is this fair use of "land" held by them? Do I hear a no.

Next, take the analogy of Inland container depot at Whitefield, or the new Airport at Devanahalli. The idea behind both is to move or keep congested areas outside the central city.

Can the state government build two or three state of the art stations for southwestern railway, and in turn acquire or lease some capacity on SWR's assets inside the city? Don't give us examples of Mumbai Central and VT stations. Both the stations handle long distance as well as commuter traffic.

• Long distance trains could all start from these new stations, we are talking places even beyond Yeswantpur, KR Puram and Nynadahalli.
• State and SWR build tracks analogous to Peripheral Ring Road to keep through traffic away.
• 40%-50% capacity of SWR's assets inside the city are utilized and enhanced to build CRS. This could be a new public entity with GoK and SWR having equal stakes in it, or a PPP (a historic first for railways), or something that could integrate with BMRCL (Metro rail corporation).

So in the new world:

• If you want to catch Jaipur express, you would go to your nearest station on the line that goes to North side station (say Yelahanka). Get down at Yelahanka, relax in the lounges of a world class station, and then you are in the hands of railways
• Use trains to come in to the city from Nelamangala or Bidadi. No rush to catch them, you would get one every 9-10 minutes.
• Perhaps the airport trip too gets covered in here. Cantonment to Devanahalli in 50 minutes.
• Important trains (Rajdhani, Shatabdi), or local haul trains of SWR (Chennai, Hubli day runs) could leave from central city stations. SWR can run their container business in the city as well. But they will have to restrict themselves to the capacity agreed upon with them.

There are negative case studies, we know them. Chennai MRTS (that rail over drain they did), or Hyderabad MRT service (usage isn't very high we hear). But we are not talking significant new investments here - may not do new lines in the central city, new tracks come up only on the outskirts to create that ring rail like corridor. We are talking about better utilization of SWR's assets. To quote Mr M N Srihari again:

“Even though India stands third in the length of railway lines after Russia and the US, it is in the 18th position in term of utilisation,”

Wish we had better stats, the ranking itself doesn't tell the full story.

25% reduction in congestion is something that keeps our trees intact, reduces fossil fuel usage, and helps our city spread right and not just get crowded in the center. Those who want to take this up, please join in. We will chase and meet the three concerned parties - SWR, state government, and Railway ministry to at least hear their take on CRS. Its not that nothing is planned on this front. As mentioned above, Masterplan-2015 has a proposal on CRS. We just have to follow up on these proposals by reaching the right people.

On to some specific maps now. We will build these as we talk. Tarle, Vasanth, Sandeep, all CRS enthusiasts, please help.

• North side satellite station possibilities
• South side satellite station possibilities
• Ring Rail to help merge/consolidate traffic to just 2 or 3 satellite stations and container terminal(s)

Imagine Sarjapur suburb area, with Commuter Rail

To continue the dream series, and realization around commuter rail (CRS) possibilities, how do you imagine the suburban area around Sarjapur Road if CRS were to be around? Yes, water problem is another thing, but on transportation front:

The station

Where is the Rail station? Well, something already exists.

Dream 1:

Jigani/E-City industrial areas in 5 (local shuttle to bring me to station) + 15 mins (to E-City station) + 10 minutes (shuttle to drop to office) = 30 minutes of clean green commute.

Dream 2

This one is even better and amazing. Sarjapur Road suburb to city-center (Cantonement) in 35 minutes not more. 5 mins (shuttle to station) + 20 mins (train ride) + 10 minutes (shuttle to destination in CBD).

Dream 3

This one is bit like stretching it, but did you say you work in Yelahanka, and wife in Jigani? Worry not, its possible. Now that you got a hang o it, the route is predictable. 50 mins to Yelahanka? 5 mins shuttle + 35 minutes train + 10 minutes shuttle at other end.

Nayandahalli Station Should Be Improved

Southern most station of Bangalore, Nayandahalli needs to be developed to offload the load on SBC. Currently, the people of southern Bangalore travelling towards Mysore need to go all the way upto City Station paying hefty amount to autos, stand in very long queues (sometimes miss the train because of not getting the ticket in time) and then take up travel. Hence most of the south bangaloreans take up buses from satellite bus stand.

Currently, there is no walk path from Railway station to Mysore road. People getting down in this station have to walk on the railway track till the next level crossing towards Bangalore side and then take up Auto. Second option is to walk through the slums next to the station till the Mysore road. It is very dark here and also it is not safe.

Express trains do not stop in this station. Only passenger trains stop. 1 minute stop even for express trains here will help lot of passengers of south Bangalore. There is only station building without any road connecting to it. A road of around 300 metres needs to be constructed connecting Mysore road to station with a prepaid Auto Counter. This will offload the passenger from SBC as well as make it convenient for the south Bangaloreans. In future as per the MRTS plan of Bangalore, this is going to become a transport hub with Metro rail and Monorail junction. This is the right time to act.

Report - Bangalore local train ride & meet

Ah! Ufff!. What an eye opener. Easily the best Praja meeting of all. I am so lost for words here. So would be IDS, Murali, Naveen and Manjari you bet. Otherwise, we would have logged in our reports yesterday itself.

IDS took the train from Hebbal. Naveen, Manjari and myself got on to it at Belandur station at 7:10. Murali sir joined in near Sarjapur Road at about 7:20. We were at Hosur station by around 7:50. Had our morning coffee there as the engine changed ends. Return ride started at 8:10 am. We were back at Belandur station by 8:45 or so. Need to check with IDS and Manjari when they reached Hebbal. But all in all, after watching clean and empty train, and nice little stations, all so close to the busy corridors and suburbs of Bangalore, we were all wondering why, why is it that this magnificent option is sitting underutilized while we all debate public transportation!? Anyway, here are the pictures.

The Belandur Road station. 1 km from Outer Ring Road, tiny, sleepy, more like a picnic spot right now. Stone's throw from Cisco office.

There was no one around to give us our tickets. But the counter opened by the time train arrived. 6 Rs per person for a ride till Hosur. IDS paid Rs 10 Hebbal to Hosur. How much would you be willing to pay for a comfortable smoke and traffic free ride from Hebbal to Hosur? Rs 30? 40?

Train arriving at BLRR

Murali joined us at Karmelaram, right next to Sarjapur Road, not very far from Wipro campus, and the sub-urban area building up around it.

Heelalige station, seemed very close to Hosur Road.

Missed taking pics at Anekal Road, but here is crossing Hosur Road.

At Hosur station.

At Hosur Station, ordering our morning coffee.

We did ride with tickets. Damn cheap by the way. Though I wouldn't mind paying more for more modern and reliable services, would you?

Not many trains at the stations we crossed, had ample space around the tracks for potential track doubling work. And buildings crowding around Hosur Road corridor were visible all along our ride.

So here it is folks, a story yet to be told and explored by our city. Reminds me of that famous sanskrit saying about the deer (Mriga) and Kasturi.

PS: Here is the exact route of the CRS test ride reported above, a detailed map, from Hebbal to Hosur, with all the stations pointed out. See for yourself, how this route can serve job and residential areas around Banaswadi, Outer Ring Road, Sarjapur Road, Electronics City, Jigani/Anekal and more.

South Western Railway - please wake up and listen to us!

Tale of Hebbal station

Hebbal SWR station located in ward 20 adjacent to the ring road services wards 19, 20, 21 on the inside & ward 8 on the outside. The demographics of these wards lend itself to heavy public transport usage. Let us look at this station from a CRS standpoint

The station itself is bare and clean. The reservation counters are empty but the station manager is helpful in printing tickets to those who ask. It has 2 platforms with tracks in the middle. Only the platform closest to the entrance is used by the YH1 CRS train. This is possibly to prevent crossing over from the other platform as you will have to walk on the tracks to cross over.

Hebbal station looking towards Yeshwantpur

The entrance to the station is on the Ring road side. 

Ring road west (towards Yeshwantpur) from station entrance

Ring road view east towards Hebbal flyover - Notice path to bus terminus

Primary problem with this station like many others on the CRS route is making it accessible from all sides via feeder service. While the access to wards 21 & 8 can be had from the ring road side. Wards 19 & 20 are totally cut off. 

From station looking south towards Bhoopasandra main road. No access to the south from station despite being 100 mtrs away

Looking from Bhoopasandra main road to the station. The coconut & Sapota grove seperate wards 19 & 20 from the station

Current accessibility challenges

Hebbal station is fed by buses upto Hebbal bus terminus under the flyover. The station is a 300 meter walk from under the flyover. 

Notice the pathway to the hebbal terminus in the distance. This is from pre ring road days where the Lake extended closer to the station

1. Most buses that arrive at this terminus are long distance, they dont service the immediate catchment wards mentioned above, except via trunk roads of Bellary road & ring road.

Taken from south side of the track, notice the bus terminus between the pillars

2. The bus stand itself might be shifted farther away towards the Nagvara side across the ring road at a future date and hence making it more inconvinient and possibly cutting off the integration altogether.

3. The present Hebbal bus terminus to Station is still a hurdle for the aged and disabled as the walk is substantial along the pathway.

Pre-ring road era pathway to the station from the flyover/terminus

The nearest bus stand to Hebbal station on the inside is Bhoopasandra bus stand at the border of ward 19 & 20 which is at the same distance from the west end of the platform as Hebbal bus stand is from the east end. 

Top left to the end of the road is Bhoopasandra bus stand which serves wards 19 & 20. Across the coconut grove on the right is the Hebbal station with no access path

Solutions

Short term

Current schedule of YH1 makes it stop at hebbal only 4 times in a day. 

1. Extend the bus from Bhoopasandra bus stand to stop at the Hebbal bus stand under the flyover on the south side coinciding with the 4 stop times allowing 15 mins for the 300mtr walk form the Hebbal bus terminus

To the right of the poster pillar is a defunct bus stop. The only bus stop to the south of the tracks which is near a cross over point

2. Run special feeder for catchment areas to Hebbal bus stand on both sides

Long term

Long term schedule of YH1 will become 1 every 20 or 30 mins. 

 We need to make buses stop on both North & South sides close to the station. This solution will work even if the Hebbal terminus moves elsewhere at a later date.

The existance of the Hebbal bus station under the flyover has caused a lot pedestrian cross overs which can be dangerous for a frequent operation of CRS. Hence the move to a more permenant location should be welcomed.

While the south bus stand can be the Bhoopasandra bus stand, the northern side will involve stop across the ring road on the far side for buses heading east and on the near side for Buses heading west. 

A single subway from Bhoopasandra bus stand all the way across the ring road till Hebbal lake will serve the purpose. This subway will have 4 exists, 1 for each platform and one each for the bus stands on the ring road. On the southern side of the Station the access can be at surface level over the drain running across the coconut grove. This subway will prevent crossovers under the flyover.

Notice the drain running to the right of the picture. It goes all the way near the station across the coconut grove, A pathway either on it or across this grove can continue below the raised station as a subway and under the ring road all the way across.

Updates from the Railway Minister

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.

1. 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.
2. Subways at road over-bridges in Lingarajapuram, Banasawadi, Hebbal, Fraser Town and other places in the city
3. Road over-bridges would be built at Kodigena Halli, Sarjapur and Boopasandra crossings
4. Road over-bridges and under bridges would be built at Jalahalli across the ring road, Nagawara, Byappanahalli, Kengeri, Bapujinagar and Allalasandra
5. Work on the road over-bridge at Whitefield would be completed by March 2010 
6. Widening of Bennigana Halli road under-bridge on Bangalore-Krishnarajapuram (NH 4) would be completed by May 2010
7. 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.

Using the present Indian railways as Commuter rail in Bangalore

For the past month or so, i have been regularly using the IR trains running between cantonment station and whitefield station to commute to my office near Whitefield.  I am travelling by train only in the mornings, as the frequency is decent. Its a struggle to find trains in the evenings.  I find the trains reliable and on schedule  most of the time. Surprisingly there are quite few of folks from IT sector already using this service regularly for office commute. Approximate travel time from cantonment station to whitefield station is 40  min with 2 minute stops at East station, byapannahalli station and K R puram station.  Find below my schedule for the trains....

And cost for passenger trains in Rs.3/- and express trains Rs.25/-. 
It would good if more people start using the existing trains for daily commute and create a pressure on system so that IR will actually introduce commuter trains. Let me know if anyone needs more info on how to use IR trains for city commuting.

Regards,