Are sub-urban trains a remedy for the city’s perennial traffic congestion?

BANGALORE: Are sub-urban trains a remedy for the city’s perennial traffic congestion? Yes! say Railway and traffic experts and that it will be a viable solution which can reduce traffic in the city.
With a large section of the middle and working class relying on public transport like the BMTC buses or autorickshaws and the rest using their own vehicles, sub-urban trains will enable all classes of people to opt for a faster, more comfortable, cheaper and an easier mode of travelling.
Besides, public transport system will be less burdened as sub-urban trains will ply between short haul destinations.
Sub-urban trains are a success story in places like Hyderabad, Chennai, Pune, Delhi and Mumbai.
Experts feel that Diesel Electrical Multiple Units (DEMU) can be introduced to connect all the railway stations within the city and at the outskirts of the city.
These trains should connect Kengeri, Jnanabharathi, Nayandahalli, Bangalore City Junction, Malleshwaram, Yeshwantpur Junction, Lottegollahalli, Kodigehalli, Yelahanka Junction, Channasandra, Hebbal, Banaswadi, Krishnarajapuram, Bayappanahalli, Bangalore East and Bangalore Cantonement.
Bangalore Metro will be completed by 2012 but it does not connect some of these areas, unlike the sub-urban trains which can be introduced immediately as the tracks exist already.
Sub-urban trains can supplement the existing modes of transport.
Railway expert Prakash Mandoth said there has been a proposal to introduce the sub-urban trains since 1980 but it is pending as successive state governments and the railway department have not shown any interest.
Moreover, many routes were having single tracks, which did not make the sub-urban trains viable. Now that doubling works have been completed in most routes, it is feasible to introduce the sub-urban trains.
“The sub-urban trains were again considered in 2000. RITES, a subsidiary unit of Indian Railways, had conducted a feasibility survey and submitted a detailed project report in January 2003, according to which it would cost Rs 998 crore to develop additional stations to buy trains and other expenditure for launching the sub-urban trains. I have placed the proposal in the recently concluded zonal meeting and some discussion held on the issue. Now it is up to the government to consider it,” Mandoth told The New Indian Express.
South Western Railways (SWR) Divisional Railway Manager Akhil Aggarwal said the SWR has already been running sub-urban trains to Tumkur, Mysore, Bangarpet and Kuppam and that it would be difficult to run more shortdistance trains on the existing tracks as many long distance trains are already running.
“The sub-urban trains that would connect all the stations would be feasible only if the new tracks are laid,” he said.
Adviser to Karnataka Government on Traffic, Transport and Infrastructure M N Srihari feels sub-urban trains is not a bad option as 30 per cent of vehicular traffic would be reduced.