New Visvesvaraya terminal stalls do little business as few trains chug in

Maqsood Maniyar | NT
Bengaluru

Shops at the M Visvesvaraya Terminal remain closed most of the time due to scarce footfall even a month after the railway station opened. They open for a short while as and when the trains arrive, and currently only three trains terminate at this station.

The centrally air conditioned terminal, built at a cost of Rs314 crore, was expected to open much earlier, but was finally thrown open on June 6. It was officially inaugurated on June 20 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, prior to his International Yoga Day visit to Mysuru.

Operations started off with three trains namely Ernakulam Tri-Weekly Express, Kochuveli Bi-Weekly Humsafar Express and the Patna Weekly Humsafar Express. Six new trains, which had been plying from Yesvantpur and Cantonment railway stations, will start operating from the new station starting Saturday, while others do so a few days later.

Five of the six trains ply weekly, while one operates twice a week. The new destinations include Kolkata, Bhubhaneshwar, Jamshedpur and Ranchi, among others. Moreover, a few more special trains will also operate from the station.

However, vendors remain unimpressed as they prefer to keep their shops shuttered for the majority of the working hours. Contracts for minor shops like general stores and the like on the platform are handed out by Railways, while Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) contracted the bigger businesses, including eateries on the first floor.

’23 trains by year end’

Additional Divisional Railways Manager (ADRM), Bengaluru Division, South West Railway (SWR), Kusuma Hariprasad said that she was sure business would pick up later, adding that 23 trains would operate from the station by the end of the year.

“Actually, footfall is very less. Secondly, few trains are operational. Once it picks up, they may come and start. They have to engage manpower and they have to keep shop items as well. That’ll be a problem for them. If they engage some people, they have to pay them. Actually, contracts are in place. Once many trains shift by December end, around 23 trains will start operating and the platform starts functioning in a full-fledged manner, then the shops can open up,” she said, adding that contracts for platform number one had been awarded.

The ADRM said the railway’s commercial department handled the contracts of vendors on the platform. Another high-ranking source associated with Railways said that AR Caterers had obtained 6-month contracts for the two eateries on the first floor for a total of Rs 15 lakh, including Rs 8.5 lakh for one and Rs 6.5 lakh for the other.