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.