City station: Recipe for a stampede

City station: Recipe for a stampede


Express News ServiceFirst Published : 17 May 2010 03:54:24 AM ISTLast Updated : 17 May 2010 08:34:34 AM IST
BANGALORE: The current state of affairs at the Bangalore City Railway Station is a recipe for a stampede, similar to what happened at the New Delhi railway station on Sunday.
On an average, 1.5 lakh passengers use the railway station everyday. Around 85 per cent of them use the entrance on Majestic side because of better road connectivity, hotels and other facilities.
As some important trains leave early in the morning, the concourse on the entrance on this side is usually crowded from 5 am to 7 am.
Plus, invariably there is large crowd in front of unreserved ticket counter. Passengers who alight from the trains coming to Bangalore add to the human multitude.
There are only two exit points on the Majestic side.
Even a small panic or confusion is sufficient to create a chaos during morning hours. The other entrance to the railway station does not paint a bright picture either.
It has been two years since railways laid the foundation stone to construct a concourse at the entrance. However, the work could not start as the BBMP had suggested some alterations in the design and things got stalled.
Even the state government has not taken any steps to improve road transport near this entrance.
Many single trains and 55 pairs of trains run from Bangalore city railway station everyday, which has only 10 platforms.
The railways continue to add more trains to the already busy traffic schedule at this station. No more trains should be added until the station is upgraded to world class standards, as proposed.

Station stats
* On an average over 1.5 lakh people use the Bangalore City Railway Station everyday.
* The concourse on the Majestic side is heavily crowded from 5am to 7am. There are only two points of exit on this side.
* The other entry side to the station lies neglected; work is yet to start on a concourse the foundation stone of which was laid two years ago.