Written By idontspam - 22 May, 2010

Overview

Per McKinsey report on India’s urbanization to 2030:

• 590 million people will live in cities, nearly twice the population of US today
• 270 million people will be the net increase working age population
• 70% of net new employment will be generated in cities
• 91 million households will be middle class, up from 22 million today
• 700-900 million sq mtr of commercial & residential space needs to be built, or a new Chicago every year
• 2.5 billion sq mtrs of roads will have to be paved, 20 times the capacity created in the past decade
• 7400 kms of metros & subways will need to be constructed, 20 times the capacity added in the past decade

Bengaluru is a leader in this growth. Per the report, it will have more than 10 million people inhabiting it by 2030, of whom; a majority will be from the middle and lower income group. For them, the urban mobility challenge will only increase as the working population increases and hence, commute will become a major quality of life indicator.

Further, research by Center for Ecological Sciences, IISc, reveals a 76% decline in vegetation cover and a 79% decline in water bodies due to the increase in built up space in the urban areas of Bengaluru. This implies that any further significant  net addition within the urban area will result in a decline in standard of living.

How Bengaluru builds its infrastructure & manages this growth will determine if it will continue to lead in taking the country forward or it will become a failure leading to urban chaos.

Growth Center paradigm

CTTP 2007 commissioned by KUIFDC/IDD of GoK had this to say regarding Commuter Rail on existing tracks “With the development of the huge Multiple Economic Activity Areas like Electronic City, I.T. Parks, Industrial & Commercial Areas with consequent job opportunities on the one hand and availability of comparatively cheaper accommodation in surrounding towns like Hosur, Ramanagaram and Tumkur etc. where a large number of working population is likely to live, substantial of commuter movement between these towns and the Metropolis will take place.”

One critical element of this urban operating model of the future is how cities will make and enforce land & space choices. Housing has already become unaffordable in Bengaluru for the lower and middle classes. No city in India has allocated space and zoning for affordable housing. The housing market has a preference to locate close to commercial/urban spaces to increase the premium the houses can fetch. This increases both, the cost & mixed use urban sprawl. Counter magnet cities, with suburban mass transit, is the best and most effective way to focus on affordable housing for middle & lower income groups who will constitute 75% of the future workforce. Nearby suburban towns were often viewed as best options for setting up industries to release growth pressures on the city to absorb new migrants and to relocate some people from the city. It never happened, because a business ecosystem cannot be artificially replaced or relocated. These suburban cities need to be zoned to take the housing pressure off Bengaluru and this can happen only when the option of traveling to Bengaluru quickly and cheaply becomes a reality.

From the McKinsey report one can gather that, for the first time in India’s history, Karnataka along with other large south Indian states will have more people in its cities than in its villages. This means that the pressure on cities will increase considerably in the future to avoid urban sprawl and still manage their growth. Increasing the area of Bengaluru and making it Bruhat Bengaluru has put undue pressure on civic bodies and made the area difficult to manage. The alternate model is to enable suburban cities to become more attractive destinations for settlers & connect them via mass transit trains to within an approximate one hour commute distance from Bengaluru. 

In the past two decades the state government in co-operation with the central government has attempted a few options to address the urban transportation challenges. Namma Metro, Mono Rail, High Speed Rail to BIAL, rejuvenated BMTC service are all examples. While most of these focus on making commute within Bengaluru city easier, the suburban connect is what will bring dividends in the long run. 

Efficiency in operations, more advanced levels of automation in signaling supplemented by close coordination with local authorities in implementing last mile solutions and superior interchange with metro is going to determine the success of the Commuter rail.

The rest of this report will provide recommendations to ensure that the Commuter Rail can be implemented successfully and be counted amongst the best in the world.

2. CRS - What and Where? 

Commuter Rail Service

Objective: Train services connecting suburban growth centers within 1 hour travel distance to Bangalore consisting of disabled friendly airconditioned trains running on existing tracks doubled or quadrupled to ensure high frequency of greater than 20 trains per day between each source destination pair

The Railways vision 2020 plan had this to say about railways vision for suburban rail "Partnerships with State and City Authorities will be established to augment the infrastructure and manage suburban services under a single management. Both suburban and long-distance trains must also look smart and colourful, reflecting our belief in and commitment to ‘Change for a better tomorrow’"

CRS Historical journey

• 1983, Southern Railway team recommends 3 commuter rail lines, and a 58-km ring railway over a 25-year period.

• 1988, RITES transport study report, among other things & also improvements on commuter rail lines

• In 1993, the State established committee to look into mass rapid transit recommended the same circular railway  put forward by Southern Railways in 1983
• 1998 – RITES does survey for Local Trains funded by World Bank
• 2003 – RITES completes survey for Local Trains for State Govt
• 2007 - RITES does survey for Local Trains for BMLTA/IDD department for CTTP2007 Bengaluru
• Jan 2008 – IDD agrees to fund for two Rakes DEMU services
• Nov 2009 – BMLTA assigns work to IDD to study Commuter Rail servicesconnecting all peripheral stations
• 14 Dec 2009 – SWR finally agrees to start few Local Trains to Anekal/Devanhallai, Kengeri as per the BMLTA meeting
• Dec 2009 – MoS Shri K H Muniyappa makes press briefing that State Govt is not yet decided on Local Trains / Commuter Rail Services
• 2 Jan 2010 – MoS Shri K H Muniyappa makes announcement starting of Local Trains between Yeshwanthpur to Anekal and Devanahalli
• Feb 2010 – Bengaluru South MP Shri H N Ananth Kumar request the MoS Railways to take up the Local Train facility similar to Mumbai
• 3 Mar 2010 – CM of Karnataka Shri Yeddyurappa writes letter to Railway Minister to sanction the Local Train Project with 50% project cost to be contributed by State Govt.
   

After 27 years Bengaluru is still waiting for a full fledged commuter rail service

CTTP Map

 

2.1 Target growth centers for Commuter Rail

2.1.1. Hosur: Distance: 40kms; Population: >1.5 lakhs; Magnets: Anekal Pop:> 0.5 lakh, Electronic City Pop> 3 lakhs

2.1.2. Ramanagara: Distance: 50 kms; Population: >1 lakh; Magnets: Kengeri pop: >0.5 lakh

2.1.3 Tumkur: Distance: 70 kms; Population: > 30 lakhs; Magnets: Nelamangala pop: >0.5 lakh; Peenya & other industrial belts

2.1.4 Chickballapur: Distance: 70 kms; Population: > 0.7 lakh; Magnets: Devanahalli > 0.4 lakh: ITIR

2.1.5 Dodballapur: Distance: 40; Population: > 0.9 lakh; Magnets: Yelahanka > 3 lakhs: Dodballapur Indl area

2.1.6 Bangarpet: Distance: 90 kms; Population: > 0.5 lakh; Magnets: Whitefield, KIADB

2.2. Hubs

2.2.1 Yeswantpur - CRS West Hub

2.2.2 Byappanahalli (Benninganahalli) - CRS East Hub

2.2.3 Yelahanka - CRS North Hub

With trains from Yeswantpur towards Chickballapur & from Byappanahalli towards Dodballapur converging here Yelahanka is well positioned to be the CRS North hub. It serves major industrial regions of ITIR, DBP, BIA & Dodballapur. With a stop for HSRL also, this station needs to be developed into a multifunctional hub and taken up on the lines of Yeswantpur & Byappanahalli.

2.3. CRS Routes

2.3.1 Yeswantpur - Yelahanka - Devanahalli - Chickballapur

2.3.2 Byappanahalli(Benninganahalli) - Jakkur - Yelahanka - Doddballapur

2.3.3 Yeswantpur - Byappanahalli(Benninganahalli) - Anekal - Hosur

2.3.4 Tumkur/Nelamangala - Yeswantpur - Byappanahalli(Benninganahalli)

2.3.5 Yeswantpur/Yelahanka - Byappanahalli(Benninganahalli) - Whitefield - Malur - Bangarpet

2.3.6 Yelahanka - Yeshwantpur - NICE PRR/City - Kengeri - Ramanagara

2.4. Commuter Rail Segments

 2.4.1 Yeswantpur to Byappanahalli(Benninganahalli) segment

 

Station

Catchment Wards/Area

Population in ,000

Yeshwantpur

17

35

 

37

36

 

42

26

 

44

34

Lottegolahalli

36

36

 

18

26

 

35

30

Hebbal

19

24

 

20

26

 

21

24

 

8

22

Banaswadi

49

32

 

59

36

 

28

35

Total Coverage

 

422

No Station

22

26

 

23

35

 

32

27

 

30

35

 

60

35

 

50

32

 

56

29

 

57

30

Total Uncovered

 

249

As seen from the above table, out of the total catchment of 6.71 lakh people 37.1% of the population along the route do not have access to the service because of lack of station in the vicinity

In order to ensure full coverage the following stations are proposed along the route

Proposed additional stations:

1. Gokula Extension/Badappa Gardens
2. ORR/D Rajagopal Rd Junction
3. Guddadahalli
4. Kanakanagar
5. Irshad Nagar/HBR Layout
6. Kadugondhalli

2.4.2 Byappanahalli to Hosur

 

Station

Catchment Wards/Area

Population in ,000

Bellandur

149

25

Karmelrama

150

20

 

Sarjapur

20

Heelalige

Bommasandra

20

Anekal road

Anekal+Jigani+Attibele

200

Hosur

Hosur

200

Total Coverage

 

485

No Station

81

25

 

85

22

 

86

23

Total Uncovered

 

70

As seen from the above table, out of the total catchment of 5.55 lakh people 12.6% of the population along the route do not have access to the service because of lack of station in the vicinity

In order to ensure full coverage the following stations are proposed along the route

Proposed additional stations

1. Angel Arcade/Kagagadasapuram
2. ORR Jn @ Karthik Nagar
3. Varthur Rd Junction / Chinnapanahalli
4. Chandapur

---

PRAJA.IN COMMENT GUIDELINES

Posting Guidelines apply for comments as well. No foul language, hate mongering or personal attacks. If criticizing third person or an authority, you must be fact based, as constructive as possible, and use gentle words. Avoid going off-topic no matter how nice your comment is. Moderators reserve the right to either edit or simply delete comments that don't meet these guidelines. If you are nice enough to realize you violated the guidelines, please save Moderators some time by editing and fixing yourself. Thanks!