No takers for satellite bus station at Baiyappanahalli

The Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation’s (KSRTC) satellite bus station at Baiyappanahalli, which was hyped for its connectivity with the Metro station and the Baiyappanahalli bus stand, is now hardly being used by passengers.

With few buses coming, the station has virtually turned into a parking lot for Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) buses.

The station was established about five years ago to make it easier for passengers from the eastern part of Bengaluru to board buses to such destinations as Hoskote, Malur, Kolar, Chintamani, Madanapalle, Vijayawada, Guntur, etc. Before that, they had to travel all the way to the Kempegowda Bus Stand (KBS) at Majestic for this purpose.

Until a few years ago, almost 200 buses would pick up passengers at the station. But barely 10 buses come now, leading to a drastic increase in the footfall, according to sources in the KSRTC. Passengers and bus drivers blame each other for the state of affairs. Passengers say no bus comes to the station, drivers complain that few passengers make it their pick-up point. Munikrishna Swamy, a KSRTC driver, said drivers felt the bus stand was not located at an ideal place. “It takes more than an hour to reach Tin factory junction from here. To save time, buses from the KBS don’t come to the station.”

On their part, passengers prefer to board buses at the Tin Factory junction. “Private and APSRTC buses pick up passengers at that place. The KSRTC gets a few passengers. The higher authorities blame us for low occupancy. Hence, we too go to the Tin Factory junction to pick up passengers,” Swamy said.

Another driver, who didn’t want to be named, said, “Some buses come to the station to pick up passengers who have made reservations. But these days, conductors call up the passengers and ask them to come near the Tin Factory junction or Old Madras Road so that they can be picked up easily. It saves time.” As a result, the station has become more of a parking lot for APSRTC buses. “It is not being used for what it was actually meant for,” a KSRTC official said.

K S Vishwanath, General Manager (Traffic), KSRTC, acknowledged that drivers are reluctant to go the station to avoid congestion. “Then they think it’s too far from the Tin Factory junction. We’ll take up the matter with senior officials to find a solution to attract more passengers and ensure buses come to the bus station,” he said.