Articles by Sanjeev Dyamannavar

The swanky new Sir M Visveswaraya railway terminal at Baiyappanahalli is due to be opened towards the end of this month. The butterfly-shaped terminal, built at around Rs 350 crore, is bound to be a transportation hub on the eastern end of the city. When operational, this terminal could take the load off the two other major railway terminals in the city: the Krantiveera Sangolli Rayanna Railway station in Majestic and Yeshwanthpur railway station. While the terminal itself promises to be a state-of-the-art facility, its usability has many hurdles. Access and connectivity to this terminal is the main issue. For…

Suburban Rail as a mass urban transport has a big role to play in controlling Bengaluru’s traffic. This project has been crawling for more than a decade. The proposals for this came well before 2010. During last few years, due to pressure from different corners and follow ups, the project has been taken up seriously by both GOK and Ministry of Railways on cost sharing basis. Unfortunately Government of Karnataka (GoK) is very slow in taking this forward. The priorities of Railways are for intercity trains and goods train movement. So the government needs to go a step further to…

The start of 2018 has seen a slew of announcements for the Bengaluru Suburban Rail Project, a project that was first proposed way back in 1983. The Government of Karnataka and Ministry of Railways, Government of India announced their official approval and slew of works to kickstart the actual suburban rail services in the city. Though it could be argued that the timing of the announcements which coincided the State Assembly elections was about political capital, it has put the project on an irreversible northward trajectory. On January 31, 2018, Government of Karnataka came out with its announcement for setting…

Yelahanka railway station. Pic: Sanjeev Dyamannavar During the now-concluded BMTC and KSRTC staff protest in Bengaluru and Karnataka, the South Western Railway came to the rescue of Railway passengers by providing stoppages for All Mail / Express Trains at Baiyyappanhalli,  Nayandahallai, Kengeri, Whitefield, Channasandra, Carmelaram in both directions. This basically helped railway commuters to get down or take trains at areas close to their residences of offices instead of struggling to reach Majestic or Yashwanthpur by private or hired vehicles, in the absence of BMTC buses. This goodwill gesture by the South Western Railway in such a short notice has…