Getting to the City Railway Station from Gandhinagar, or vice versa, is no less than a roller coaster ride; it involves going up and down two subways and two skywalks – an arduous task for pedestrians, especially senior citizens and travellers weighed down by luggage.
A proposal to extend the Foot Over Bridge (FOB) in Kempegowda Bus Terminal to Gandhinagar on one side and integrate it with the FOB in City Railway Station has been on the back-burner for several years. But it is seeing renewed interest as the area has turned into a key transport hub with the Namma Metro exchange station coming up fast.
BBMP has turned down an offer by Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (BMRCL) to build a skywalk between the bus terminal and City Railway Station. Instead, it issued a tender to a private firm under Public Private Partnership (PPP) for the same.
The skywalk will connect either side of Gubbi Thotadappa Road but will not integrate with the FOB in the bus terminal or the one in City Railway Station. The end result will be the addition of two flights of staircases to the existing seven between Gandhinagar and your train.
Prabhakar, Executive Engineer, Traffic Engineering Cell, BBMP, who is in charge of skywalks, said, “The tender is awaiting approval from the council. Once the work order is issued, we can consider integrating it with the FOB in Majestic, if need be.”
Urban commute expert Sanjeev V. Dyamannanavar said, “The FOB can be easily extended on either side to Gandhinagar and also integrated with the FOB in the railway station. This will help commuters to go to Magadi Main Road as well.” Non-integration of such infrastructure in transport hubs, like Yeshwantpur and Byappanahalli, have added to the difficulty of commuters, he added.
Vinay Sreenivasa of BMTC Bus Prayanikara Vedike suggested a complete design rehaul of the area to streamline pedestrian and bus movement. “A DULT report on the redesign of Majestic area is gathering dust. As the local civic body, BBMP should take the lead in calling for a multi-agency meet to solve the issue. The skywalk may emerge as just one of the components of a holistic solution to fix the place,” he said.
