Rail corridors for smooth traffic flow

Rail corridors for smooth traffic flow
Having seen the Metro in Delhi and Kolkata, the urban rail network in Mumbai and Chennai, the Bangalorean had always wondered why the City's existing railway llines weren't put to better use. After all, Bangalore had about a dozen railway stations criss-crossing the City...


Trains there were aplenty as well, so what if they were long distance ones. A lot of people had indeed thought about connecting these existing lines and plan a road-rail network to boost Bangalore's transport connectivity and let the concept of an urban rail take root. BANGALORE 360 Degrees takes this route, and digs deeper into those RITES files. Are its recommendations feasible today, how does the Metro, Monorail and the roads fit in. Now, that was a question then, and still is. Read on to find more.

Much hope hinges on the Comprehensive Traffic and Transportation Plan for Bangalore prepared by Rail India Technical and Economic Society (RITES), consultant for transportation projects to provide a solution for the City’s transportation crisis. The report was readied for the Karnataka Urban Infrastructure Development and Finance Corporation in October 2007.
A multi-modal public transport system involving rail and road routes is the thrust of the plan. The railway options it provides are the creation of Mono Rail or Light Rail Transport Corridors and Commuter Rail Corridors. Here is an elaboration on the proposal and the reaction to it from experts in the field:

Mono Rail/Light Rail

Normally, if the peak hour peak direction trips takes upto 15,000 people, buses would be able to handle it. However, this would be possible only if a dedicated 10-meter wide bus lane is created. Right of Way issues would come in the way of creating such bus lanes. Therefore, elevated lanes, are the only solution.

According to sources, the route proposed is a mono-rail along the Western crescent of the Outer Ring Road from Bellary Road to Kanakapura Road along with a couple of spurs along selected radials leading to the core area.

In addition, an independent corridor has been proposed from Hosur Road-Bannerghatta Junction to National Park.

The plan suggests radial corridor along Magadi Road and Bannerghatta Road to be extended up to the Peripheral Ring Road along Outer Ring Road extended up to Bannerghata Road. It also suggests creation of ten commuter rail corridors.

‘Not possible to implement’ (REACTIONS)

What is the feeling in the Railways about the proposed ideas?

The Monorail does not come under the purview of the Railways. On the proposed Commuter Rail corridors, Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) of the Bangalore division of South Western Railway Mr Mahesh Mangal says, “Most of these proposals are not feasible at all. There is neither line capacity nor terminal capacity to operate more trains.” As the City railway station was bursting at its seams, Yeshwantpur was made another terminal; even that has become full now. Byapannahalli is now being looked at as the next terminal. “There are many long distance trains being added with every passing year. So, there is no question of using the existing capacity to introduce more trains for short distances in and around the City.”

Doubling work is presently being undertaken from Bangalore up to Tumkur and Ramnagaram. “As of now, the Commuter Rail corridor proposed from BMA boundary to Ramanagaram and to Tumkur appear to be the only ones possible.” If a separate dedicated lane is constructed only for these suburban routes, then there is some solution, Mangal added.

Another top railway official calls for the construction of a four-lane track from Bangalore to Bangarpet, Bangalore to Whitefields, Bangalore to Byappanahalli and Bangalore to Hosur. “This would help in tackling passenger traffic in a big way.”

Mono Rail - a better option

Prof M N Sreehari, Chief Operating Officer, Consortia of Infrastructure Engineers (CIE) and Chairman of Traffic Engineer and Safety gives a huge thumbs up for the RITES plan. “The RITES report must be taken in the right spirit!” he said.

He suggests that the Mono Rail/Light Rail must be expanded in a big way to act as an effective feeder to Metro Rail. “ Mono Rail can be constructed for a length running over 300 kms. The planned Metro Rail can take care of only 18% of the population out of the existing 78 lakhs. It is therefore, imperative that the Mono Rail is deployed very effectively.

Apart from the 60 km-length for Mono Rail proposed by RITES, Sreehari calls for introducing it along the entire Outer Ring Road for 78 kms and the Peripheral Ring Road for 140 kms. Other hugely congested areas where he wants Mono Rail to help out are the stretches from Majestic to Jayanagar, Majestic to Mysore Road and Majestic to Hasserghatta Cross (which would take care of Peenya too).

The Metro Rail takes care of only North, South, East and West and ends up neglecting North East, South East and South West. Even on the time and cost aspects, Mono Rail scores over the Metro Rail in a big way. “The cost involved for laying lines above the ground for Metro Rail works out to Rs 125 crore per km and Rs 250 crore per km to lay the lines underground. Whereas, only an amount of Rs 65-70 crore needs to be spent for one km of the Mono Rail.”

The Chairman added, “Work related to Mono Rail would take only 18 months and other Asian countries like Japan and Malaysia are concentrating only on Mono Rail now.”

He also vouches for a multi-modal Integrated system which would be a combination of Metro, Mono, Commuter Rail Corridors and Bus Rapid Transit Corridors. “This will help in tackling 60% of the traffic.”

So, why was no such solution attempted over the years? Instability in the State and unfavourable governments at the Centre have been responsible, Sreehari said. “The State government needs to have the will to bring about such an improvement and they must apply sustained pressure on the Centre so that such projects are sanctioned.”

On the time frame that it would take to bring about such improvements, he was too optimistic. “We can start even tomorrow. All that is needed is to begin operations from Bangalore to Tumkur, Bangalore to Whitefields, Bangalore to Hosur and Bangalore to Kengeri. This can be slowly extended to other places. A new line can be created which will cater exclusively to these services.