Byappanahalli railway terminal: Wait continues

Y Maheswara Reddy | NT

Bengaluru: The inauguration of the much-delayed Sir M Visvesvaraya Terminal at Byappanahalli could be extended by some more weeks or even months due to the surge in Covid-9 cases in the city.

“South Western Railway has completed all pending work at Sir M Visvesvaraya Terminal. We wanted to inaugurate the terminal in March 2021 but postponed it due to a surge in Covid cases. Now, we do not want to inaugurate it at this juncture due to the increase in Covid cases,’’ said South Western Railway Chief Public Relations Officer Aneesh Hegde.

This will be the third railway terminal while Krantiveera Sangolli Rayanna Railway Station and Yesvantpur Railway Stations are the other two railway terminals. “As of now, we have not fixed the date for the inauguration of Visvesvaraya Terminal. We will inform you about the inaugural function in due course,’’ the CPRO said.

Railway sources said the inauguration was postponed due to the elections in five states and the increase in the number of Covid cases in the country. It is said that the railway project was sanctioned in 2015-16 to enable South Western Railway to operate more trains from Bengaluru. The project was expected to be completed in 2018. The Rs 350 crore Sir M Visvesvaraya Terminal is expected to see around 50,000 footfalls on a daily basis.

The terminal that is spread over 4,200 square meters has seven platforms besides eight stabling lines and three pit lines. It is estimated that the South Western Railway can operate 50 trains from this terminal.

“The South Western Railway authorities have delayed the opening of this terminal for one or the other reason. It seems the railway authorities expected the Prime Minister to inaugurate the terminal. Later, they delayed the inauguration stating that the BBMP did not complete the road that connects to Old Madras Road,’’ said Sanjeev Dhyamannavar, a railway activist.

The 810m-long railway over bridge was sanctioned in 2010-11 to connect Visvesvaraya Terminal and Old Madras Road but the work was delayed due to the delay in land acquisition. The construction of the railway over bridge and the asphalting of the road between Visvesvaraya Terminal and Old Madras Road were supposed to be completed by June 2020 but it got delayed again due to Covid pandemic.

“The Visvesvaraya Terminal inauguration is delayed for various reasons from March 2021. This terminal reduces congestion at Yeshwantpur and Krantiveera Sangolli Rayanna Railway Station. The inauguration was delayed due to poor road connectivity but now the road work is almost completed. The railway authorities are not interested in inaugurating the new terminal,’’ said Abhishek, a railway activist.