Passengers using Krishnadevaraya Halt, located in the midst of a densely-populated residential area on Railway Parallel Road in Vijayanagar, are happy that there is a station nearby. But they want a platform at the station and bus connectivity to other parts of the city.
At present, the station, which started functioning in March this year, has a “low-level platform”.
Passengers must get into the coaches at the ground-level and be quick about it as trains stop there only for a minute. H.L. Sanjeevaiah, a passenger, said: “Senior citizens and children find it tough to get in or out of trains.”
The station has a covered “low-level platform” but no seats are available and there is no washroom.
Passengers also want the services of three BMTC buses, which used to stop next to the station till a year ago. The buses were withdrawn after work on two bypasses blocked the route to the station.
At least 250 people take the trains on weekdays. The number goes up on weekends. The trains originate at Bengaluru City and go towards Mysuru.
Anil Agarwal, Divisional Railway Manager, Bengaluru, South Western Railway, said R s. 1.39 lakh was spent from the MLA fund on levelling the area and constructing the low-level platform.
However, to build a proper platform, the overhead equipment (OHE) had to be shifted as it is too close to the platform. Railway authorities are yet to decide on a tender to shift the OHE, he said.
G.N. Veere Gowda, BMTC General Manager (Traffic), said: “The people’s letter will be treated as a request for new bus routes, not for resumption of existing routes.”
