Bangalore Commuter Rail Services

[doc.aneesh]

A dream project remains ignored

M. A. SIRAJ

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper...cle2620068.ece

It is a resource that is grossly underutilised and awaits induction into an imaginatively planned transport network that could take some pressure off the Bangalore roads. But it seems few have time and patience to listen to the voices from civil society activists who have been arguing for a holistic planning of the transport network within and around the city. Even as Bangalore's notoriously narrow thoroughfares are subjected to ever increasing motorised traffic, the 67-km-long Yeshwanthpur-Hosur rail line remains a virtually defunct section of what could be an otherwise resourceful contributor towards mitigating woes of the commuters.

Encircling almost two-thirds of the city from its western side to almost the incipient southern periphery, the single track line has long been envisioned as the future circular railway around the city. But for the most parts, it has remained a dream for the city fathers. It has found nothing more than a grudging acknowledgement from the Indian Railways who have, by and large, remained deaf to pleas for an active role in conceiving a suburban railway for metropolitan Bangalore.

For six lakh commuters

Starting at Yeshwanthpur in the western periphery, the line passes through thickly populated northern and eastern parts of the city inhabited by nearly 45 lakh people. These areas feed an estimated six lakh commuters into the bursting-at-seams BMTC services. Alternatively, the hapless road-users have to depend on personal vehicles to go to schools, colleges, factories and business districts.

With few major arteries serving the area, the traffic moves at snail's speed, claiming a heavy toll of time for each commuter. One-ways, dug-up streets, civil work for the Namma Metro are some of the hassles that routinely mess up the road-users. .

With stops en route at Lottegolahalli, Banaswadi, Bellandur Road, Karmelaram, Heelalige, and Anekal Road, the railway line passes through such potential traffic generation points as Peenya industrial estate, HMT and BEL, Wheel Axle Plant, Manyata Tech Park, Outer Ring Road up to Whitefield, Electronic City, Sarjapur Road, Vrindavan Tech Park, Intel, Cisco, IBM, Accenture, and Jigani Industrial Area. Moreover, the track could have been conceived to link important corridors such as Tumkur Road, Hebbal-Bellary Road, Old Madras Road at Baiyappanahalli, Varthur Road, Sarjapur Road, Hosur Road and Anekal Road. Buses or even private vehicles bringing thousands of commuters from various areas would have found the rail network useful to access various destinations on the periphery of the city. But nothing of that sort has happened.

Currently, the Railways runs just two (Yeshwanthpur-Hosur) daily services, one each in the morning and evening, on this crucial semi-circular garland route around the city. If this resource had to be inducted into the city's traffic decongestion plan, the train services could be enhanced from one to three from each side during morning and evening peak hours, says Satish, an IT engineer who daily commutes to work from Yeshwanthpur to Heelalige station.

Other connectivity

Second comes the question of last-mile connectivity. Most stations would need bus stops, autorickshaw stands or car parks. Currently, even crucial stations such as Banaswadi look forlorn, with passengers being at the mercy of the few autorickshaws that ply in the vicinity.

Thirdly, in order to retain the surface transport efficiency in the area in the wake of enhanced rail services, a couple of over-bridges would need to replace level crossings near Mathikere, Sanjaynagar, Nagawara and Karmelaram. A pedestrian underpass may also be in order beneath the gargantuan Hebbal flyover.

Fourth on the agenda should be the provision of two more rakes for the existing trains. The current rake is an old one contrived out of a polyglot of coaches, some of them with day train seats and others with conventional old-style coupes. The rakes to be introduced need to be more friendly for hop-on, hop-off commuters with wider doors, provisions of special coaches for vendors, and possibly space for more standees or even those who would like to carry bicycles in order to have their own last mile connectivity. It also presupposes elevation of platforms to the train level at most of these eight stations.

Fifth, three more critical points on the route, namely Baiyappanahalli, Marathahalli and Old Madras Road, require stops or stations. These will ensure greater viability for the services by ensuring larger volume of commuters.

Travelator

The current track skips Baiyappanahhali by a distance of nearly 800 metres almost with an equestrian nonchalance by galloping through an overbridge. Joining the two preferably by a travelator (moving walkway) would enable effective induction of the sector into the city's transport scheme. The BMRCL reportedly has a travelator on its agenda at Baiyappanahalli, albeit to connect to an upcoming mall nearby. Imagine the joy of a commuter who reaches the city centre on M.G. Road from Yeshwanthpur in a flat 35 minutes (20 minutes from Yeshwanthpur to Baiyappanahalli, five minutes at interchange and 12 minutes by Metro to M.G. Road.) sans the hassles of a road journey involving an hour on the cumbersome route, pollution, a litre of petrol and weariness.

It seems the current two train services that connect Yeshwanthpur and Hosur were introduced half-heartedly to stave off the pressure from civil society members and are being run listlessly. To begin with, the services largely remain unadvertised. Secondly, passenger amenities remain rudimentary at stations.

The new Hebbal station which was opened to the passenger traffic in 2004 is perched atop a mound and requires ascending nearly 30 step on a part-muddy, part-pucca stairway. The autorickshaw driver took this scribe to Hebbal Police Station when asked to drive to the ‘Hebbal Station.'

Finally, the sector could be an effective part of the proposed commuter railway for Bangalore, if the Railways could take up the doubling of the track and extend some services to Tumkur and Chikballapur via Yeshwanthpur.

Says Sathya Sankaran, an activist with civic portal Praja, “Railways have plenty of land, which is currently vulnerable to land sharks on either side of the track. It could be put to effective use to fulfil the inevitability of the doubling, if not now, in a decade or two.”

[hemanth1987]

On sunday, my friends came for a metro ride and we took metro at mg road at 5.10 and reached baiyappanahalli by 5.25 and came down and took chikbalapur-bang pass train. For just Rs2 the train left baiyappanhalli at 5.35 and stopped enroute at banglore east and reached Banglore Cantanment at 5.45 and Majestic at 5.50. here the regular train has reached Cantonment from baiyappanahalli(7KM) in 10mins faster than metro and ticket cost just Rs2 for majestic. but due to lack of intetrest with our elected rrepresentatives, the banglore commuter railways will be a big dream.
This is the best time to introduce commuter rails as metro works are going on at various places near mysore road, yesvantpur and mainly majestic which will help reduce traffic chaos.

[doc.aneesh]

People travelling from Whitefield to anywhere on the Metro line (R1) can use these trains

http://indiarailinfo.com/search/993/...=1321418198380

[gentem]

Originally Posted by hemanth1987

On sunday, my friends came for a metro ride and we took metro at mg road at 5.10 and reached baiyappanahalli by 5.25 and came down and took chikbalapur-bang pass train. For just Rs2 the train left baiyappanhalli at 5.35 and stopped enroute at banglore east and reached Banglore Cantanment at 5.45 and Majestic at 5.50. here the regular train has reached Cantonment from baiyappanahalli(7KM) in 10mins faster than metro and ticket cost just Rs2 for majestic. but due to lack of intetrest with our elected rrepresentatives, the banglore commuter railways will be a big dream.
This is the best time to introduce commuter rails as metro works are going on at various places near mysore road, yesvantpur and mainly majestic which will help reduce traffic chaos.

Dude main advantage of metro is frequency of 10 min.. So average waiting time is 5 min which you add to commuting time of 12 min. If you add waiting time to irregular indian railway it becomes more time than traveling by bus. Other disadvantages are lack of escalators at railway station foot overbridges etc. It takes years to procure one additional train for service. Better if commuter rail remains a dream

[doc.aneesh]

Originally Posted by hemanth1987

On sunday, my friends came for a metro ride and we took metro at mg road at 5.10 and reached baiyappanahalli by 5.25 and came down and took chikbalapur-bang pass train. For just Rs2 the train left baiyappanhalli at 5.35 and stopped enroute at banglore east and reached Banglore Cantanment at 5.45 and Majestic at 5.50. here the regular train has reached Cantonment from baiyappanahalli(7KM) in 10mins faster than metro and ticket cost just Rs2 for majestic. but due to lack of intetrest with our elected rrepresentatives, the banglore commuter railways will be a big dream.
This is the best time to introduce commuter rails as metro works are going on at various places near mysore road, yesvantpur and mainly majestic which will help reduce traffic chaos.

I think Bangalore is the only large city without any form of mass transit system yet..

Delhi - metro
Mumbai - locals
Kolkata - metro
Chennai & Hyd - MMTS

Even today, without commuter rail services, people can hop onto passenger trains from say WFD to BYPL, YPR to KJM etc..
Problem is, no. of stations are few and far between and will help people travelling longer distances only... short distance frequent travel can only be ensured by the Metro...

So to speak, we need both, only the metro will not suffice

[hemanth1987]

Originally Posted by gentem

Dude main advantage of metro is frequency of 10 min.. So average waiting time is 5 min which you add to commuting time of 12 min. If you add waiting time to irregular indian railway it becomes more time than traveling by bus. Other disadvantages are lack of escalators at railway station foot overbridges etc. It takes years to procure one additional train for service. Better if commuter rail remains a dream

Yes i too agree with u, but metro will be completed on majestic stretch not less than 2015. When msjestic station work is taken up, it will be abig mess as many lorries will be used to get construction materials. so atleast till metro work completes they should run trains at half hour gap. They had conducted survey for 3times from 1992, and even if the amount spent on 2surveys was used now banglore traffic would not be so horrible.

[gentem]

Originally Posted by hemanth1987

Yes i too agree with u, but metro will be completed on majestic stretch not less than 2015. When msjestic station work is taken up, it will be abig mess as many lorries will be used to get construction materials. so atleast till metro work completes they should run trains at half hour gap. They had conducted survey for 3times from 1992, and even if the amount spent on 2surveys was used now banglore traffic would not be so horrible.

you r mistaken, construction lorries traffic is very less. there is so much demand for new trains all over india why they give to bangalore when demand for existing hosur train is so low. instead they can extend kolar passenger train to kengeri, mysore passenger trains to whitefield and hubli passenger trains to anekal and that should help. so that no need of new trains.

[saurav_68]

Originally Posted by doc.aneesh

I think Bangalore is the only large city without any form of mass transit system yet..

Delhi - metro
Mumbai - locals
Kolkata - metro
Chennai & Hyd - MMTS

Even today, without commuter rail services, people can hop onto passenger trains from say WFD to BYPL, YPR to KJM etc..
Problem is, no. of stations are few and far between and will help people travelling longer distances only... short distance frequent travel can only be ensured by the Metro...

So to speak, we need both, only the metro will not suffice

Kolkata has the second largest Commuter Railway Network in India carrying the 2nd highest no. of passengers every day after Mumbai Locals,and after completion the ongoing expansion of suburban network it will become largest Suburban Rail Network in India.
Here ER and SER both have suburban train network.ER has the largest suburban network having 2 div.(howrah and sealdah) and 20 lines.
Bangaluru should use it's rail network as much as possible to reduce traffic pressure and carbon emission.

[doc.aneesh]

Originally Posted by saurav_68

Kolkata has the second largest Commuter Railway Network in India carrying the 2nd highest no. of passengers every day after Mumbai Locals,and after completion the ongoing expansion of suburban network it will become largest Suburban Rail Network in India.
Here ER and SER both have suburban train network.ER has the largest suburban network having 2 div.(howrah and sealdah) and 20 lines.
Bangaluru should use it's rail network as much as possible to reduce traffic pressure and carbon emission.

All major cities have a very good rail network, notably Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai... Its very very poor here in Bangalore..
Most tracks are single, non electrified...
Unfortunately, The railway authority in Karnataka is largely unsupported by the centre.. Every railway budget fails to do anything good to our region...

[doc.aneesh]

What's the difference between a metro and chennai's mrts? It has stations every km, some elevated...

[Coolguyz]

Originally Posted by doc.aneesh

What's the difference between a metro and chennai's mrts? It has stations every km, some elevated...

I guess the carrying capacity plus the rakes. Dont know about chennai but mumbai has 12 coach rakes with carrying capacity of 3000 people which cant be matched by metro.

[doc.aneesh]

Mumbai local stations are further apart right??
Chennai's seemed to be just like metro..

[hemanth1987]

Originally Posted by doc.aneesh

What's the difference between a metro and chennai's mrts? It has stations every km, some elevated...

Metro is nothing but improved version of MRTS.

Metro has only ac coaches while mrts has non ac(general & First class) coaches and now ac coaches have also been inducted.

Metro runs on its dedicated tracks while mrts has both dedicated and non dedicated lines shared with Indian railways.

Passenger carrying capacity is more in mrts.

metro stations and trains are more clean as there are time restrictions to stay in stations.But its the people who make trains and stations dirty.

Fare is low in mrts than metro. metro is costlier by atleast 5times than metro.

less infrastructure is required as existing tracks can be used, were metro is now being newly built.

Metro is built in underground and elevated while MRTS is on ground and elevated in densely populated areas.

[doc.aneesh]

Originally Posted by hemanth1987

Metro is nothing but improved version of MRTS.

Metro has only ac coaches while mrts has non ac(general & First class) coaches and now ac coaches have also been inducted.

Metro runs on its dedicated tracks while mrts has both dedicated and non dedicated lines shared with Indian railways.

Passenger carrying capacity is more in mrts.

metro stations and trains are more clean as there are time restrictions to stay in stations.But its the people who make trains and stations dirty.

Fare is low in mrts than metro. metro is costlier by atleast 5times than metro.

less infrastructure is required as existing tracks can be used, were metro is now being newly built.

Metro is built in underground and elevated while MRTS is on ground and elevated in densely populated areas.

Chennai's MMts is dedicated and has elevated sections right.. so, metro/mmts there's no clear demarcation... people call it by diff names...

I think Bangalore is way behind in railway infrastructure... Saddening when so much could have been done atleast at par with neighbouring metropolises

[gentem]

Originally Posted by Coolguyz

I guess the carrying capacity plus the rakes. Dont know about chennai but mumbai has 12 coach rakes with carrying capacity of 3000 people which cant be matched by metro.

Metro can have frequency of 3 min and speed also more. Delhi metro can have 8 coaches max and bangalore 6 and if they run that long trains then capacity will be more than mumbai local trains. Speed is more also because no need of change of track due to dedicated tracks.

Chennai mmts is running under capacity due to single short and isolated stretch, though chennai locals are there elsewhere. They are extending it and even that maybe converted to metro. Fare is artificially lower because of communism in indian railways. MRTS is stripped down version of metro, which planners thought would be as good as metro with price of indian railway, but underutilised

What bangalore needs to solve traffic jam from indian railways is more RUBs and ROBs and wider than 2 lane ones , and no level crossings.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_Ra..._%28Chennai%29

[hemanth1987]

Originally Posted by doc.aneesh

Chennai's MMts is dedicated and has elevated sections right.. so, metro/mmts there's no clear demarcation... people call it by diff names...

I think Bangalore is way behind in railway infrastructure... Saddening when so much could have been done atleast at par with neighbouring metropolises

Chennai is MRTS, and its MMTS in Hyderabad. Chennai had dedicated track on elevated stretch and also in most of ground stretch exept some portions, were existing tracks were used and those stretches are also beeing quadrapled.
Hyderabad mmts does not have dedicated lines but still runs in 20 and 30mins interval in peak hours and 45mins to 1hr interval in non peak hours. But still it has good patronage in peak hours. I was not able to board hyderabadmmts twice at secunderabad that was the patronage of those mmts. I am very sad on that part because SCR can use those extreme busy trunk lines of Delhi corridor and SWR is giving abrupt reasons to introduce on its not so densely traficed double line tracks.
SWR should wake up.....

[doc.aneesh]

Originally Posted by hemanth1987

Chennai is MRTS, and its MMTS in Hyderabad. Chennai had dedicated track on elevated stretch and also in most of ground stretch exept some portions, were existing tracks were used and those stretches are also beeing quadrapled.
Hyderabad mmts does not have dedicated lines but still runs in 20 and 30mins interval in peak hours and 45mins to 1hr interval in non peak hours. But still it has good patronage in peak hours. I was not able to board hyderabadmmts twice at secunderabad that was the patronage of those mmts. I am very sad on that part because SCR can use those extreme busy trunk lines of Delhi corridor and SWR is giving abrupt reasons to introduce on its not so densely traficed double line tracks.
SWR should wake up.....

YEAH, they can run trains on the ypr-banaswadi bypl track... Hardly any trains run there

[ImsaiArasan]

Originally Posted by gentem

Metro can have frequency of 3 min and speed also more. Delhi metro can have 8 coaches max and bangalore 6 and if they run that long trains then capacity will be more than mumbai local trains. Speed is more also because no need of change of track due to dedicated tracks.

Chennai mmts is running under capacity due to single short and isolated stretch, though chennai locals are there elsewhere. They are extending it and even that maybe converted to metro. Fare is artificially lower because of communism in indian railways. MRTS is stripped down version of metro, which planners thought would be as good as metro with price of indian railway, but underutilised

What bangalore needs to solve traffic jam from indian railways is more RUBs and ROBs and wider than 2 lane ones , and no level crossings.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_Ra..._%28Chennai%29

This link shows complete rail map of chennai MRTS, Metro and Sub-Urban Railway network. And Chennai MRST is fully elevated dedicated corridor. Infact chennai sub-urban railway also has dedicated corridor inside city.

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpo...59&postcount=3

[doc.aneesh]

People also can start using already existing trains... There are 10 trains daily between WFD and bypl... There is a train every hour, the trains run on time too (indiarailinfo.com)

Atleast for the time being, people can use these trains..

[World8115]

Originally Posted by hemanth1987

Chennai is MRTS, and its MMTS in Hyderabad.
Hyderabad mmts does not have dedicated lines but still runs in 20 and 30mins interval in peak hours and 45mins to 1hr interval in non peak hours. But still it has good patronage in peak hours. I was not able to board hyderabadmmts twice at secunderabad that was the patronage of those mmts. I am very sad on that part because SCR can use those extreme busy trunk lines of Delhi corridor and SWR is giving abrupt reasons to introduce on its not so densely traficed double line tracks.
SWR should wake up.....

Hyd MMTS is not on Delhi route, instead on Mumbai route (till Lingampally) and Bangalore route (till Falaknuma). Instead DEMU/MEMUs run on Delhi route (till Bhongir) and also Nizamabad route (till Medchal/Manoharabad). even these are part of Phase-II, dont know what is the status of that now.