Lalu Prasad Yadav, Railway Minister, in 2006 had proposed to make Bangalore city railway station “world class”, but seven years later, it would appear that was a nonstarter; and Railway Minister M. Mallikarjun Kharge says he is unaware of any such proposal.
Speaking to presspersons here on Friday after laying the foundation stone for a road overbridge (RoB) at Allalasandra level crossing, Mr. Kharge said he would ask general manager of South Western Railway (SWR) Ashok Kumar Mital to provide details on the matter.
Despite Mr. Yadav’s announcement, Bangalore city railway station saw little development of note. Instead, the Railways decided to develop Byappanahalli railway station in East Bangalore.
Mr. Mital said the Railway Board had empanelled a Belgian consultant to prepare detailed project reports (DPRs) to develop five railway stations, including Byappanahalli, into world class ones. For now, Byappanahalli is being developed into a coaching terminal to handle a couple of trains from Bangalore, he said.
Earlier, Mr. Kharge laid the foundation stone for the Rs. 23-crore RoB at the level crossing on the Bangalore–Yelahanka–Doddaballapur Road at Allalasandra. The 17.6-m wide, four-lane RoB would be built in a year, according to SWR.
According to a survey, the level crossing witnessed 4,63,320 train vehicle units (TVU) in April 2012. Both the railway line and the road have heavy traffic flow and the RoB is to ease it.
The Minister also opened a road underbridge (RuB) connecting National Highway 7 and Judicial Layout, close to Allalasandra. The project was taken up at a cost of Rs. 7 crore. The BBMP is contributing Rs. 19 crore towards both the projects, while SWR will bear the rest of the cost.
Inaugurated
Mr. Kharge along with D.B. Chandre Gowda, MP, also inaugurated the renovated building of the Yeshwanthpur railway station (market entry).
The Minister opened the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation’s (IRCTC’s) food plaza on platform 6 (Tumkur Road side). IRCTC has leased out the plaza to P.K. Shefi, who will operate the non-vegetarian section. The vegetarian section has been sub-leased to Kamat Yatri Nivas (for a la carte and meals) and Maiya’s (for snacks, bakery items and sweets).
