Poor connectivity at rly station

Poor connectivity at rly station
By S Lalitha, DH News Service, Bangalore:
Two new pairs of trains are added every year to Yeshwantpur railway station, the only railway terminal for Bangalore other than the City Station. But, what is lacking is proper infrastructure relating to bus connectivity to the Station...


There are no buses from the new entry point of the Station on the Tumkur Road side from where passengers reach platform Six. The nearest bus stop on this side is three-fourth of a kilometre away. Hence, the passenger needs to walk the distance with luggage in tow.

The other entry from the market side which leads to platform One has a few buses to some important points in the City. Listing them out, a railway official said, “It is 52E to Raghavendra Colony via City market, 90E to Majestic and 92E as well as 94E to Shivaji Nagar and their timings are erratic.” Most of the passengers end up walking to bus station in Yeshwantpur.

Another shortcoming is the absence of buses from the Station after 9 pm, whereas the last train reaches the Station at 11.55 pm on certain days of the week; the Hubli Passenger departs at 10.15 pm, the Hampi Express at 10.40 pm and the Shimoga Express at 11.53 pm, he added.

Passengers fleeced

Many passengers felt that there was a clear need for more buses here. T R Pyne, heading to Shanti Niketan in West Bengal, regularly visits Bangalore for business. He was noted sitting on a trolley meant for luggage. “I have dragged my luggage from the bus stop to here. Hence, I am gasping for breath and taking rest,” he said. Lashing out at the ‘very notorious’ autorickshaw drivers, he said, “They mercilessly fleece you when they realise you are an outsider. So, I always try to take a bus.”

Ranjith, another passenger, pointed out “ there is a pre-paid auto system on Platform Six side but the drivers usually force us to pay some amount above the meter reading. Many from other States are not even aware of a pre-paid system exists,” he added.

When questioned if the foot-over-bridge could be taken from Platform Six to One, to use the bus facilities, Manjunath, heading to Hubli, said, “One generally does not feel like climbing the stairs with luggage. Moreover, you never know when the bus will actually arrive.”

Silver lining

Divisional Railway Manager, Bangalore Division of South Western Railway, Akhil Agrawal, ruled out the possibility of creating a proper bus network (like the hugely successful bus service from Chennai Central) to different areas from the station due to space constraint. “The area around the Station is totally congested. We wanted to have a proper parking space but we are not able to procure the needed land,” he said.

Agrawal said that talks were recently held among the Metro Rail officials, the State government officials and the Railways to consider the plan of constructing an under bridge to link Yeshwantpur Station with the Metro Rail station coming up in the vicinity.