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Commuter Rail - Will it ever materialize ?
Written By Naveen - 13 February, 2010
Bangalore railways CRS SWR Namma Metro Transportation public transport Commuter rail
Most of us are aware that the CTTP-2007 report had recommended a Commuter /Sub-urban rail system for the city, totalling 204.0km (this includes city & suburban services upto Tumkur, Hosur & Ramanagaram). A few sub-urban trains are in operation & are being run by Southwestern railways (SWR), but the system is not of much help to urban commuters.
Please also see earlier discussions on this subject here, here & more recently here.
Within the city & the more developed suburbs, the following (twenty-two) stations already exist, but many of these stations are not much used :
1) Yelahanka
2) Chikkabanavara
3) Kodigehalli
4) Lottegollahalli
5) Hebbal
6) Yeswantapur
7) Chennasandra
8) Banaswadi
9) Krishnarajapuram
10) Bangalore East
11) Whitefield
12) Malleswaram
13) Cantonment
14) Byappanahalli
15) City Station
16) Nayandahalli
17) Gnanabharti
18) Kengeri
19) Bellandur Rd
20) Karmelaram
21) Heelalige
22) Anekal Road
Except for four of the larger inter-city train stations, ie. (6), (9), (13) & (15), the other 18 stations are used very little. Can city service trains be run through these stations & could they be put to better use than they are at present ? On the drawing below, one can see the planned Metro tracks (phase 1 & also phase 2, as will most likely be built) in the backdrop of SWR's tracks :
( Click for larger image )
The following CTTP recommended routes would certainly be needed since the areas covered by CRS are not going to be served by Metro routes :
a) Kengeri to City Stn - 13 km
b) City Stn to Whitefield (via Cant R'ly Stn, Baiyyappanahalli) - 24 km
c) City Stn to Baiyyappanahalli (via Hebbal) - 23 km
d) Lottegollahalli to Yelahanka - 7 km
e) Banaswadi to BMA boundary (via Bellandur rd) - 29 km
( Total = 96 kms )
The fewer interfaces with Metro might not pose obstacles & could be overcome by connecting bus services to CRS stations. There are only 22 stations over the 96 kms of track. Thus, the average distance between stations is over 4.3km - additional CRS stations would be necessary - some ideas are as follows (marked with blue spots on the map above) :
a) On Kengeri-City Stn route: (23) near RV Engg College; (24) Deepanjali Nagar Metro stn; (25) Hosahalli main rd.
b) On City Stn-Whitefield route: (26) Seshadripuram (Sivananda store); (27) Jeevanahalli; (28) Beniganahalli (ORR); (29) Devasandra; (30) Hoodi; (31) Sadarmangal Ind Area.
c) On City Stn-Baiyyappanahalli route: (32) Jalahalli (ORR); (33) MS Ramiah rd; (34) Gundappa rd; (35) Kanaka nagar; (36) Kadugondanahalli.
d) On Banaswadi-BMA boundary route: (37) Beniganahalli (ORR); (38) Kaggadasapura; (39) Chinnappanahalli; (40) Varthur rd; (41) Sarjapura rd; (42) Chandapura (Hosur rd).
These additional stations would reduce the average distance between stations to about 2.3km, which is more appropriate for a suburban rail system.
SWR might have it's reasons for repeatedly rejecting operation of city rail services in Bangalore - such rail systems are faring poorly in almost every city in the country barring Mumbai, but then in India, city rail systems are directly being operated by divisions of Indian railways whose primary focus area is the operation of inter-city train services. Further, the other transport systems in use in the cities (such as buses, taxis, etc.) were never planned nor integrated for easy transfer of passengers between different modes. Each operated independently on it's own, sometimes even competing with one another & making commuting difficult for people. Thus, most cities continue to have transport systems that are not well-knit & therefore, inefficient, & this also explains why city rail systems have fared so poorly in the country.
We now have a situation where SWR has a lot of assets such as tracks, real estate & stations, but is clearly not the best option to build & operate the city /suburban rail system. It might be best if BMRCL could become the operator for CRS, sharing the infrastructure with SWR.
COMMENTS
idontspam - 14 February, 2010 - 22:40
To a query on the Railways providing circular railway service for Bangalore city utilising the existing track network and building some more, Mr. Muniyappa said the Ministry has been watching the infrastructure development in the city.
“We have been watching and studying the public transport scenario in Bangalore. I’ll not make any commitment at present but definitely we are at it,” he said.
Asked whether the Railway Board has decided not to take up any new suburban railway project, Mr. Muniyappa said he was not aware of any such decision
CRS / Local train for Bangalore Vs State Govt & SWR attitude
Sanjeev - 15 February, 2010 - 05:39
Its good that now awarness is coming with people about CRS & how its important to integarte CRS with METRO & BMTC.
I think too much of discussion on CRS at every level, but no action from any front.
Refer earlier posts on Praja dt : 30th Dec'09 and 2nd Jan'10
http://www.praja.in/en/blog/sanjayv/2009/12/30/updates-railway-minister
www.praja.in/en/blog/sanjeev/2010/01/02/crs-local-train-bangalore-vs-state-govt-swr-attitude
Its fate of Banglore and Citizens to suffer on the CRS front for some more time : . Even when RITES took study on CRS on behalf of BMLTA, they did't consult SWR officers, SWR wants to do its own study as evident from BMLTA meetings. Then comes MOS Mr K H Muniyaap ( due respect to his efforts for Karnataka ) making statement that State is not yet decided on CRS, so the Bangalore-Whitefield-Krishnarajapuram track-quadrupling work could not be implemented Now SWR wants study the traffic voloume on Yesvanthpur to Devanahalli to start Local Trains.
Existing stations arround Bangalore city within raidus of 30-40 Kms are more then 22 Stations. We have more then 33 stations. Balance station list is heer :
23) Betta Hasoor 24) Dodjala 25) Devanahalli 26) Tanisandra 27) Bidadi 28) Heijala 29) Rajana Kunte 30) Dodballapur 31) Soledvana Halli 32) Gol Halli 33) Nelamangala New stations needed : 1. RPC LAYOUT 2. BINNY MILL ROAD 3. SHESHADRIPURAM 4. KUMAR KRUPA ( BDA ) 5. COX TOWN
8. NAGAVARA
9. RAJAJINAGAR
10.GOKULA
11. HMT ( JALHALLI )
12. GKVK
13.JAKKUR AERODROM
14. HOSUR RAOD INTERSECTION OF SELAM TRACK
Even RITEs study is not accepted by SWR & it looks for shorter roots of 7 Kms length similar to Mono Rail.
We at Praja need to work with all these inputs and make strong representation to SWR & Minister K H Muniyaapa / Chief Minister or Transport Minister. Other wise we will be discussing on this even for next 2-3 years.
Its time for us to act on CRS to get the things on the ground going.
Are SWR tracks in B'lore over-loaded ?
Naveen - 15 February, 2010 - 16:55
From information available on IR webpages, the no. of trains stopping & then 'departing' in a 24-hour period from various stations are appx'ly as follows (trains passing by without stopping & goods trains are not included as there isn't available data) :
1) YELAHANKA JN, YNK - 20
2) CHIK BANAVAR, BAW - 12
3) KODIGEHALLI, KDGH - 5
4) LOTTEGOLLAHALLI, LOGH - 6
5) HEBBAL, HEB - 2
6) YASVANTPUR JN, YPR - 37
7) CHANNASANDRA, CSDR - 2
8) BANASWADI, BAND - 4
9) KRISHNARAJAPURM, KJM - 42
10) BANGALORE EAST, BNCE - 32
11) WHITEFIELD, WFD - 30
12) MALLESWARAM, MWM - 21
13) BANGALORE CANT, BNC - 61
14) BAIYYAPPANAHALI, BYPL - 20
15) BANGALORE CY JN, SBC - 67
16) NAYANDAHALLI, NYH - 10
17) JNANA BHARATI HALT, GNB - 7
18) KENGERI, KGI - 20
19) BELANDUR ROAD, BLRR - 4
20) CARMELARAM, CRLM - 8
21) HEELALIGE, HLE - 4
22) ANEKAL ROAD, AEK - 4
Comparitively, the no. of departures for some other dense stations are as follows :
Chennai Central - 50;
Chennai Egmore - 28;
Chennai Perambur - 38;
Hyderabad Deccan - 14;
Hyderabad Kacheguda - 21;
Secundarabad Jn - 58 (Many passing thro' trains).
It indeed appears that the load in /around Bangalore is higher than other larger cities in the south viz. Chennai & Hyderabad.
Tracks in Chennai radiate independent of one another from one of two central points (ie. Chennai Central & Beach). This makes it easier to slot suburban trains inbetween intercity trains & run them with lesser interference since there are no criss-crosses.
Likewise, in Hyderabad, suburban trains are being run along existing train tracks that do not have intersections with other tracks. Thus it appears that they are being run without interference from crossing inter-city trains (ie. by slotting them inbetween two inter-city trains along the same tracks).
In Bangalore, we have many line intersections or bifurcations such as those near Yasavantapur, Yelahanka, Lottegollahalli & Banaswadi. Also, in addition, we have the 'tangle' of tracks between Byappanahalli, KRPuram & Chennasandra - I think all these make it more problematic to run regular suburban trains since halting for inter-city trains to cross will probably become a routine for every CRS /Suburban train. Rail track arrangements appear to be similar to our diffuse road system.
With all these negatives, it might be better to leave SW tracks for inter-city & the few suburban services & develop a whole new (elevated or underground) system of separate, independent tracks for Metro & Monorail. I think that having regular /frequent city /suburban trains on existing tracks (with simultaneous operation of so many inter-city trains - increasing all the time) might be quite difficult.
idontspam - 23 February, 2010 - 09:22
Then wait for the next decade 2020
No thats not how you solve problems. Get IR to deregulate and let go of monopoly over railways then either IR will implement CRS just to get you off their back or really let go of monopoly, in which case its easier to catch your local govt.
THe former is very much unlikely, but the latter is very much possible. Like Manish has pointed out, suburban services will be hived off and new ones may not need IR approval.
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