City railway station all set for facelift

City railway station all set for facelift

The Hindu

Rs. 1 crore released to appoint consultant for lending it a world-class look

BANGALORE: Separate arrival and departure lounges, shopping malls, escalators, ticketed entry to platforms, food courts, automatic ticketing system and a hi-tech electronic queue management system for passengers. This is not the description of the international airport coming up at Devanahalli, but of the soon-to-be-renovated Bangalore City Railway Station.

The Railway Board has released Rs. 1 crore to the South Western Railway (SWR) to appoint a consultant for upgrading the station to meet international standards.

At present, the railway station handles 71 pairs of trains, and more than 1.5 lakh passengers make use of the station premises each day.

Railway Minister Lalu Prasad had recently announced that Bangalore, along with 15 other major railway stations in the country, will be upgraded to world-class standards.

Tenders

Mahesh Mangal, Divisional Railway Manager, SWR, Bangalore, told The Hindu on Thursday that tenders would soon be floated to select the consultant to prepare a master plan for the purpose that would also involve integration of railway services with the proposed metro rail and the existing bus services.

While the existing main entry facing the Kempe Gowda Bus Station would be revamped, the second entry from Rajajinagar side would have an exclusive terminal with all passenger amenities, Mr. Mangal said.

The terminal buildings comprising three floors, including the ground floor, would have the potential for further additions.

Food courts

The ground floor would exclusively be meant for passenger concourse, while the first floor would house reservation counters, toilets and food courts. The third floor would have rest rooms and railway offices, he said.

Apart from refurbishing the second entry, the SWR intended to open another entry to the station from Magadi Road (between Binny Mill and Old Mysore Road Junction), Mr. Mangal said.

It would considerably ease congestion at the main and second entries and help passengers from south and west Bangalore to easily access the station, he said.

Land

The Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BMP) has agreed to hand over around 6,000 sq.m. of land, which was previously held by an oil company, to the Railways.

The consultant is also to suggest commercial utilisation of Railway property.