Visvesvaraya rly station begins services after much delay

NT Correspondent
Bengaluru
After a long wait, Sir M Visvesvaraya railway terminus was finally opened to the public in a low-key manner in Baiyappanahalli in Bengaluru on Monday evening.

With a VIP lounge, a passenger information system, a food court, the centrally air-conditioned railway terminal provides travellers an airport-like experience. The terminal also boasts of a huge parking space that can accommodate up to 250 four wheelers and 900 two-wheelers.

Apart from the facilities, the well-planned structure built with a budget of Rs 314-crore, also has a rainwater collection system and a four thousand litre water recycling unit for long term operation.
Though the terminal was completed in March 2021 itself, train services did not commence from this station for nearly 14 months. A formal launch by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected later.
At 7 pm, the terminal saw the departure of its first train, Banaswadi-Ernakulam tri-weekly express. To begin with, the south western railway (SWR) has shifted three pairs of long-distance trains from Banaswadi station to Sir MV terminal.

Bengaluru’s modernised terminal will be the third such station given that the other two in Habibganj (Rani Kamlapati), Madhya Pradesh and Gandhinagar, Gujarat were inaugurated before the Sir MV Terminal, despite they were completed later.

The South Western Railway (SWR) also intends to run 32 pairs of trains from the terminal, although only three sets have started in the first phase. Designed on the lines of Kempegowda International Airport (KIA), the modern terminal can handle a daily footfall of 50,000.
In Bengaluru, this will be the third railway terminus (where trains originate/terminate their trips) after KSR Bengaluru City and Yeshwantpur stations.