Volunteers of Citizens for Bengaluru (CfB) will carry out a ‘Chuku Buku Railu Beku’ awareness campaign on December 17, demanding a commuter train network for the city.
They will board the 9 am train to Bangarpet at the Bengaluru City railway station. The train stops at Bengaluru Cantonment, Bengaluru East, Baiyappanahalli, KR Puram, Hoody and Whitefield stations, Srinivas Alavilli, member, CfB, told reporters on Friday. Many college students and noted musician Raghu Dixit will take part, he added.
Bengaluru has around 40 railway stations and 140 km of tracks that should be adequately used by the government. Not many people, including government officials, are aware of the network’s potential, said a CfB volunteer.
Actor Prakash Belawadi said the proposal to build a commuter rail network in Bengaluru was first mooted 32 years ago but nothing came out of it. He said suburban trains could substantially reduce private vehicles and bring down pollution. Instead of constructing a steel flyover at a cost of Rs 1,800 crore, the government can spend the amount on building a commuter train network in Bengaluru, he added.
K N Krishna Prasad, convener of Bengaluru Suburban Rail Passengers’ Forum, said Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad and Pune all had suburban rail systems. In Mumbai, around 75 lakh people depend on the suburban rail for their daily commute. According to him, building a suburban train network would not cost much. By spending just Rs 300 crore, the suburban rail system can be introduced in Bengaluru in six months, he suggested.
In the evening, CfB volunteers organised a freeze mob demonstration to promote the suburban rail network option and gather votes against the steel flyover project. For nearly half an hour, 20 volunteers became statues at various locations on MG Road to explain to people the need for a commuter rail network and invite them to the awareness campaign on December 17.
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