To avoid terminating and originating more trains at Krantiveera Sangolli Rayanna City Railway Station and Yesvantpur Railway Station, which have already reached their capacity, the South Western Railway is constructing coaching terminal at Baiyappanahalli at an estimate cost of Rs 150 crore.
Expected to be inaugurated by April, the coaching terminal at Baiyappanahalli, may lead to more traffic jams at the Banaswadi flyover, as the much-delayed railway over bridge near Baiyappanahalli is only expected to be opened by September.
Around 20 trains are expected to originate and terminat at Baiyappanhalli coaching terminal that has seven platforms. With the delay in completing the construction of the ROB at Baiyappanahalli railway station, passengers are expected to spend more money and time to reach their destinations such as Indiranagar, CV Raman Nagar, New Thippasandra, Domlur and other areas.
“Any delay in completing the ROB construction will affect the railway passengers who have to commute around two to three kilometers to reach their destinations,’’ said Sanjeev Dyamannavar, an activist.
Authorities should complete the work on a priority in the interest of thousands of commuters who have been struggling to reach the Old Madras Road and other areas– said NS Ravi, Bharati Nagar Residents’ Welfare Association president. He opined that elected representatives or Bangalore Development Minister and Mayor visit the spot to direct the contractor to expedite the construction work. “There is no supervision or monitoring by the elected representatives or higher authorities. This is the main reason for the delay. The authorities concerned should visit the spot and direct the contractor to complete the work on a priority basis,’’ he said.
Many motorists, especially two-wheeler riders have to depend on a bumpy road to reach Old Madras Road via Baiyappanahalli. The road is full of dust and not suitable for commuting. “It is okay in winter and summer, but this will be an impossible road to take during the monsoon. The kuchcha road will be entirely slushy and rendered unusable,’’ said Manohar S, a resident of Maruthi Seva Nagar.
Expressing concern over the delay in the construction work, NS Ravi, president, Bharati Nagar Residents’ Welfare Association said that most of the roads around Baiyappanahalli are either narrow or dug up and traffic jams have become the norm of the day. “The authorities should complete the work on a priority basis in the interest of thousands of commuters who have been struggling to reach the Old Madras Road and other areas,’’ said Ravi.
The work on the ROB began in 2010 but came to standstill in 2012 after having completed around 70 per cent of the work. The delay in acquiring the land from the Defence Department has kept the ROB work incomplete for around eight years.
With Union Defence Minister taking the initiative to handover the required land for the construction of the ramp towards Old Madras Road side, the construction work began in June 2019 and is expected to be completed on par with the inauguration of the coaching terminal at Baiyappanahalli.
“The construction of the ROB is expected to be completed by August,’’ said R K Singh, Chief Engineer (Construction), South Western Railway. When informed about the impending inconvenience to the railway passengers alighted at the coaching terminal, Singh said some arrangements would be made to enable two-wheeler and autorickshaws to reach the Old Madras Road.