The city’s third coach terminal at Baiyappanahalli, critical for easing burden on Krantiveera Sangolli Rayanna Railway Station and Yesvantpur terminal, will see three platforms constructed by December 2018, Union Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda said on Thursday.
The three platforms will be part of Phase I of the much-delayed project. Another four will be added in the subsequent phase, Mr. Gowda said. The coach terminal, which will have facilities for coaches awaiting repairs and stabling lines for parking coaches, was initially proposed in 2012.
“The State government has agreed to the Railways request for land in Baiyappanahalli. A proposal from Railways will be sent in this regard,” Mr. Gowda said, adding that this will be discussed with the Railway Minister in the upcoming meeting as well.
The existing terminals at KSR Station as well as Yesvantpur have been saturated for many years now and this has severely crippled any expansion plans for the Bengaluru division of the South Western Railway. The addition of the new coach terminal at Baiyappanahalli was deemed ideal since it already has a metro terminal and trains towards Salem, Dharmavaram, Jolarpet, Tumakuru, and Mysuru can be operated from here.
Expected to cost around ₹125 crore, just ₹3 crore was earmarked for the terminal in the 2016 Union Budget and ₹32 crore in this year’s Budget. The Railways has chosen to implement the project on its own and not through the Public Private Participation (PPP) model as planned earlier.
