Sudheesh Nair's Bangalore photos

[Nelaturi]

Mr. Kheny says the design has been modified to make a provision for monorail. It is still awaiting approval. However, I am not sure about his claims --quote--

"There can also be a monorail along the expressway to Mysore. It can have hybrid coaches running up to speeds of 200 kmph; which means you can travel to Mysore in just under 45 minutes," Mr. Kheny said. --- unquote

Do we have monorail technologies for such speeds? I always felt monorails could serve as feeder routes to main lines, or good for resort/theme parks like Sentosa or Disney World. Never thought they could serve as mainline transports which need high speed and load capacity. If he is right, wow!! that would be something to have between B'lore - Mysore, as also high speed connection to the new int'l airport.

[Naga_Solidus]

actually, the Shanghai maglev is a type of advanced monorail since it has only one rail. So it's actually technically feasable, including higher speeds (500+km/h, anyone?)

[sudheeshnairs]

Thanks Nelaturi for your detailed explanation....

Expecting the same in the pages to come...

Originally Posted by Nelaturi

Sudheesh,

The more I look at photo no. 3, the major intersection seems like the South End circle, looking down from the RV road side. The dry patch on the right corner of the photo must be the Yediyur lake bed. This is one lake that could not be revived, since the catchment areas and the inlets have been blocked by all kinds of illegal constructions. The BDA actually built a nice path around the embankment with lighting and so on, but then, the lake remains dry. I hope they do a similar beautification on the Ulsoor lake, which will really make it magnificent.

The South End circle, a few decades ago was considered the southern tip of Bangalore, till the development of Jayanagar, JP Nagar and so on. Now, the city has extended many kms south of this area. South end should probably be re-named as South Central Bangalore now.
BDA has proposed a new flyover on this intersection.

No. 4 looks like a view of Indiranagar, specially with the lake containing an island being Ulsoor lake for sure.

No. 6, no prizes for guessing, is obviously some part of the ring road near the airport.

Let me try and figure out the others later.

[sudheeshnairs]

So this has to be a "Maglev Monorail"? Anyway good ideas for the future..

There is a proposal for a new Kerala Express way too, linking Trivandrum in the south with Kasargode in the north. In that similar MRTS is also planned. But it rather seems as a non starter..

Originally Posted by Naga_Solidus

actually, the Shanghai maglev is a type of advanced monorail since it has only one rail. So it's actually technically feasable, including higher speeds (500+km/h, anyone?)

[sudheeshnairs]

[vadi]

Originally Posted by Nelaturi

Mr. Kheny says the design has been modified to make a provision for monorail. It is still awaiting approval. However, I am not sure about his claims --quote--

"There can also be a monorail along the expressway to Mysore. It can have hybrid coaches running up to speeds of 200 kmph; which means you can travel to Mysore in just under 45 minutes," Mr. Kheny said. --- unquote

Do we have monorail technologies for such speeds? I always felt monorails could serve as feeder routes to main lines, or good for resort/theme parks like Sentosa or Disney World. Never thought they could serve as mainline transports which need high speed and load capacity. If he is right, wow!! that would be something to have between B'lore - Mysore, as also high speed connection to the new int'l airport.

Talks on to build monorail along expressway

Special Correspondent

NICE, Metrail will jointly implement the project

# The plan is to put up a monorail on 41 km of peripheral road and the entire 110-km stretch of the expressway
# Agreement to be signed after the cost estimates are finalised
# NICE is negotiating with Indus Venture Capital Fund for picking up an equity stake in NECE

Bangalore: As the debate rages over whether a monorail should feed and supplement the proposed metro rail project or routes that were left out by the metro rail in Bangalore or replace the metro project altogether, U.K.-based Metrail is close to tasting its first success in India.

Baba Kalyani's Bharat Forge-promoted Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise Ltd. (NICE) is in the advanced stages of negotiations with Metrail India Pvt. Ltd., a subsidiary of Metrail, to build a monorail on the entire stretch of the ambitious Bangalore-Mysore Infrastructure Corridor (BMIC) project.

"NICE and Metrail have agreed in principle to put up a monorail system on 41 km of peripheral road and the entire 110 km-stretch of the expressway," a NICE official told The Hindu. As per plans, Metrail will implement and operate the monorail on the median that separates the existing two-lanes on either side of the peripheral road and expressway project.

"We are currently working out the costs for jointly developing the monorail. Once the cost estimates are finalised, we will frame the terms and conditions and sign an agreement to implement the monorail," the official said.

Meanwhile, several strategic investors are flocking to buy equity in the project given the diversified spectrum of activities involved and particularly after the Supreme Court gave a clean chit to the project promoters against allegations of "land grabbing and other wrong-doing."

NICE is in talks with the U.S.-based equity firm Indus Venture Capital Fund for picking up an equity stake in Nandi Economic Corridor Enterprise Ltd. (NECE), the special purpose vehicle formed for implementing the first phase of the BMIC project at an estimated cost of Rs 1,100 crores.

From The Hindu


A few questions.
(1) does NICE need govt permission for this?
initially they had planned 6 lane expways. they changed that to 4 lane.
i dunno if this change was in consultation with govt.
coz any govt involvement is sure gonna re-start the endless debates.

(2) what do you think is the feasibility of this, considering that this road itself is peripheral to most imp places in blore today. and as i understand it is to be fed by the radial roads such as bannerghatta road.
atleast in the near future, there is no scope of of this connecting to any metro in the CBD.

meanwhile kumaraswamy seems impressed with metro
and is also supposed to have met lalu about the pending railway projs in the state.

and things are going to interesting.
if both projects get off ground (and pigs can fly) this year then mono is surely going to come up before metro. it will be interesting to see how that is going to play out in terms of public opinion and policy.

[sudheeshnairs]

The icon of Bangalore so far, Public Utility Building..

As viewed from the 10th floor of Brigade Tower

[Nelaturi]

Originally Posted by vadi

A few questions.
(1) does NICE need govt permission for this?
initially they had planned 6 lane expways. they changed that to 4 lane.
i dunno if this change was in consultation with govt.
coz any govt involvement is sure gonna re-start the endless debates.

I presume they would need a govt okay to deviate from the approved plan. Endless debates look likely, unless Mr Kalyani has some short cuts in the process. They have already put it up for approval according to Kheny.

Originally Posted by vadi

(2) what do you think is the feasibility of this, considering that this road itself is peripheral to most imp places in blore today. and as i understand it is to be fed by the radial roads such as bannerghatta road.
atleast in the near future, there is no scope of of this connecting to any metro in the CBD.

Some parts of the peripheral road planned by BMIC pass through highly populated areas, which could use the monorail. In fact, I recall reading about an elevated stretch connecting the city centre to the BMIC E/way which will cut the travel time to about 15 mts. So, maybe there's a lot of scope for it after all.

Also, if there is connectivity to the new airport, it would add a lot of points to the proposal. Mysore then gets a fast connection to the a/port by the monorail.... well, well.. sounds interesting...

Originally Posted by vadi

meanwhile kumaraswamy seems impressed with metro
and is also supposed to have met lalu about the pending railway projs in the state.

and things are going to interesting.
if both projects get off ground (and pigs can fly) this year then mono is surely going to come up before metro. it will be interesting to see how that is going to play out in terms of public opinion and policy.

Doubling of the Bangalore-Mysore track has been hanging fire for a long time. If this is achieved, we can also look at high speed trains a la Pune-Mumbai connecting the two cities... hope the pigs learn flying soon...

[vadi]

meanwhile our lalu dissapoints....
pardon my french but who the bullcrap wants to get to darbhanga and patna from blore and if you look at the budget for some of the prjs most of them are < 50% of the required budget some multicrore projs even have a miserly 1 lakh(eg., Y'pura-Salem line). if you try hard enough the oridinary grocery shop shetty in some unknownpalya will give you more than that.

yet another railway minister playing favs.
meanwhile our man played a perfect FIL.

[sudheeshnairs]

Originally Posted by Nelaturi

Doubling of the Bangalore-Mysore track has been hanging fire for a long time. If this is achieved, we can also look at high speed trains a la Pune-Mumbai connecting the two cities... hope the pigs learn flying soon...

Infact it is one of the most important things. Not only doubling, electrification also has to be done. Seems the proposal for electrification of the track is yet to be considered, isn't it?

A double electrified track between the two important cities of Karnataka is not a luxury, it is a need..

[sudheeshnairs]

Nelaturi, which flyover is this?, I forgot its name, it is before the KR Puram bridge on the way to Whitefield.

[sudheeshnairs]

View from Brigade Tower

[sudheeshnairs]

Think it is the only "IndiOne" in India now..

Second IndiOne is under construction in Trivandrum.

Some 10 Indian cities would be having this "Smart Basics" chain of Hotels of the Tata group.

Went inside the Hotel and saw the rooms too..

[Nelaturi]

Originally Posted by sudheeshnairs

Nelaturi, which flyover is this?, I forgot its name, it is before the KR Puram bridge on the way to Whitefield.

This is the arm of the flyover that connects Old Madras Road(OMR) to the Ring road leading towards Hebbal/Hyderabad (NH7). This flyover comprises of three wings. The first one is to your left as you approach KR puram from the city, immediately after you cross the railway underpass. This is a short arm which links up to the one in your snap, coming from the KR puram side, leading towards Hebbal.

The third wing connects the RR to the OMR leading towards the Cable Stayed Bridge and onwards to Chennai. The whole area is a complex mesh of flyovers to allow the Ring road to cut across Old Madras Road, the cable stayed bridge and the flyover crossing over the Whitefiled road to connect to the Ring Road towards Marthahalli and onwards to Silk Board Junction (NH4).

Despite all this, OMR is just a little better than Hosur road in terms of traffic congestion.

I maintain that unless our public learns discipline and cops enforce road rules, this all amounts to symptomatic treatement. The core area is to make stringent imlementation of traffic laws mandatory.

[vadi]

talking of hosur rd.
are you seeing any construction on it for the elevated tollway. that was supposed to start sometime this month. have'nt heard anything about it all.
also can you tell me how many tracks the SBC-MAS line has upto whitefield.
(googling confirms 2 electrified tracks but two more seem to be u/c)

thanks.

[sudheeshnairs]

Thanks Nelaturi for your detailed explanation. This is how you learn to know about places you are not familiar with.

Yes, while coming back I had seen signages, "Hyderabad", in the above arm of the flyover mesh.

Originally Posted by Nelaturi

This is the arm of the flyover that connects Old Madras Road(OMR) to the Ring road leading towards Hebbal/Hyderabad (NH7). This flyover comprises of three wings. The first one is to your left as you approach KR puram from the city, immediately after you cross the railway underpass. This is a short arm which links up to the one in your snap, coming from the KR puram side, leading towards Hebbal.

The third wing connects the RR to the OMR leading towards the Cable Stayed Bridge and onwards to Chennai. The whole area is a complex mesh of flyovers to allow the Ring road to cut across Old Madras Road, the cable stayed bridge and the flyover crossing over the Whitefiled road to connect to the Ring Road towards Marthahalli and onwards to Silk Board Junction (NH4).

Despite all this, OMR is just a little better than Hosur road in terms of traffic congestion.

I maintain that unless our public learns discipline and cops enforce road rules, this all amounts to symptomatic treatement. The core area is to make stringent imlementation of traffic laws mandatory.

[sudheeshnairs]

Approaching KR Puram bridge, road towards whitefiled. It is pretty heavy traffic here and as we cross the flyover arm towards Hosur, the road becomes relatively free.

[Nelaturi]

Originally Posted by vadi

talking of hosur rd.
are you seeing any construction on it for the elevated tollway. that was supposed to start sometime this month. have'nt heard anything about it all.
also can you tell me how many tracks the SBC-MAS line has upto whitefield.
(googling confirms 2 electrified tracks but two more seem to be u/c)

thanks.

Its been a while since I drove towards Hosur road. My daily route is away from that mess. (thankfully ).. Will try to get some info on the progress, if any, there. Maybe they are waiting for the blessings of Mr. Kumaraswamy??

About the rail tracks to Whitefield, far as I know, its double track only. Work is going on to add new tracks, but one cannot see much progress near the stations.

Vadi, you may have heard/read about the plans to de-centralise the rly destination points in Bangalore. Currently Bangalore City is the main rly stn. with almost 90% of trains arriving and departing from there. The place is highly congested. On an aside, SW Rly announced that they are seeking approval to construct two flyover ramps leading into & exiting from the City stn, to allow smooth access to traffic on the rear side - mainly used by travellers catching trains bound to/coming from Mysore city. The Mys-Chennai Shatabdi is the most important train to use these platforms. Currently, traffic has to take a convoluted path to enter & exit the stn. on this side.

Yeshwantapur is also the start/end point for a few trains.

The Rlys want to expand Bangalore Cantt. stn, so that it could handle more trains and also serve as a start/end point on order to reduce the load on City Stn. Probably, they are awaiting some approvals, since I haven't seen any new work in this regard, the last time I visited Cantt. stn. It will be good if they do this work fast.

There is some thinking on expanding the capacity of Byappanahalli stn also, but I do not know how useful that would be as an terminating point, since it is too far east for citizens living in other parts of B'lore. Probably, it would be used to park rakes and so on.

[sudheeshnairs]

While passing infront of Forum, just thought of clicking it.

[sudheeshnairs]