After a delay of over a year, the Sir M Visvesvaraya Terminal in Byappanahalli is all set for a grand opening on
June 6. While the news of the inaugural has been a celebration for rail enthusiasts, Bengalureans around the area
worry about rising traffic congestion in future.
However, the South Western Railways noted that only three pairs of trains would be running for...
more... now, with an
expected footfall of less than 5,000.
“There will be traffic once the terminal will be opened. The engineer of the ndian Oil Corporation (IOC) flyover
hadn’t planned for this railway terminal.
Now it’s only two lanes but it should have been at least a three-lane flyover. Unless the flyover is widened, there
will be a major bottleneck.” said a resident, Jude Rajesh.
“People coming from Kammanahalli or Banaswadi usually want to reach the Banaswadi flyover. Without the
adequate infrastructure, the footfall from even one train will cause a jam on the road. Each train will contain at
least 1,400 passengers and it’s going to be a nightmare. Even if only 50 per cent want to go North or East
Bengaluru, 700 people will be scurrying to catch cabs and private vehicles,” said another resident of the area,
Dev Anand.
On condition of anonymity, another resident aired accessibility concerns. “The terminal is a great move, but the
question is how they are they going to manage incoming and outgoing traffic? It should not be a case where
people have to miss trains. The whole idea for another terminal is to decongest the city but they have to get the
logistics right.
New terminal a traffic bane?
East Bengaluru will be most hit if traffic congestion begins there. Some alternate arrangements should have been
made to facilitate the free flow of traffic, said Rajashekar, a resident.
Speaking to BM, SWR PRO, Aneesh Hegde said, “One round of expansion of the main road in front of the
terminal connecting Old Madras roadside to Banaswadi side has already been done. Right now, we are only
shifting three pairs of trains and so the traffic in front of the traffic will be minimal. Each train will get around
800-900 passengers.”
To reduce the possible traffic congestion, BBMP has made some immediate and long-term plans as well.
The IOC flyover needs to be widened to prevent traffic congestion
–Jude Rajesh, a resident
“The railway station that will see at least one lakh footfall in full capacity that needs to be supplemented with
adequate infrastructure. Currently, the terminal lacks a mobility plan. As an immediate measure, we can
complete a 50-75 metre L-shaped road by using railway land to facilitate commuters from Maruthi Seva Nagar
to reach Banaswadi and the railway overpass has been completed.
“For long term decongestion, we have made some plans; for 1 lakh footfall, you need at least 80-100 feet road.
Adjoining the railways, there are three modes: railway lines, suburban rail, and elevated flyover traffic. We need
to find a solution to connect all of them with minimal land acquisition,” said BS Prahalad, Chief Engineer (Road
and Infrastructure), BBMP.
According to him, BBMP has proposed the Elevated Rotary overpass similar to the Chennai model at a proposed
cost of Rs 250 crore. It took six months to come up with this idea and is not yet in the action plan. We have also
proposed a travelator connecting the railway terminal to Vivekananda Metro station, he said
