World class look for city station

World class look for city station
AKANKSHA MEHROTRA
DC | BENGALURU


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South Western Railways is in talks with the state government on the expansion of City Railway Station and has plans to give the facility modern amenities and a world class feel.
The railways is planning to acquire 20 acres of land owned by Binny Mills near the station for the expansion and will spend Rs 100 crore to provide passenger amenities.

The department has already prepared a blueprint of the expanded railway station that it expects will decongest the railway station.

“The Binny Mills property is private land but the company has not been functioning since 1998. The land is under the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR) and it could be acquired by the railways,” said Zonal Railway Users Consultative Committee (SWR) member Prakash Mandoth. “A 110 metre stretch that used to be the casting yard of L&T could also be purchased to make more space for the expansion.” Around 1.5 lakh passengers use City Railway Station every day, with about 150 trains departing from the station daily.

“There is not enough space at the railway station now.

Unless the station is expanded, there will not be space for new platforms that can accommodate new trains. New trains are sorely needed with the Yeshwanthpur Railway station also saturated as 25-30 trains ply to and from the station daily,” Mr Mandoth said.

Once the land is acquired, the station will be remodelled with additional platforms and the railways will provide better passenger facilities there. Also, a separate maintenance yard for locomotives will be built.

Bangalore City Railway Station now has 10 platforms.

The 9th and 10th platforms are very narrow.

Trains using platforms 5, 6, and 7 cannot be put on the tracks leading to platforms 1, 2, 3 and 4 as they are not interconnected due to lack of space. The railways says the Binny Mills land can be used to set up a separate shunting neck (used for washing trains) for maintenance work. The area presently used for maintenance in the station can then be used to build new platforms.

The expansion project envisages a new entrance from Magadi Road through wh ich the Metro Rail can also pass, linking the city transit system with the station.

As part of the modernisation of the station, the facility will get top-class passenger amenities, a new taxi stand, a multi-level/underground parking lot, proper seating arrangements and boundary walls.