Infrastructure facilities off track at City railway station

Infrastructure woes continue to dog the City railway station through which around 80 trains pass  every day.

While a few projects are progressing at a snail’s place, the work on some is yet to begin. For instance, the plan to build an additional building for the station has been grounded due to the problems associated with land acquisition.

A few months ago, escalators were installed for the convenience of the passengers. However, the four-year-old plan to build a multi-level parking and a rooftop restaurant on the Okalipuram side is yet to be executed. With four to five new trains being introduced every year, there appears to be no respite for the passengers at the railway station.

Last year, three local trains were extended to pass through the City station, besides the Tirupati-Bangalore train. The double-decker Bangalore-Chennai train was also introduced last year. The situation is no better at the Yeshwantpur station, which has at least 40 trains running through it daily. The train traffic has been increasing every year while its capacity has remained unchanged for over a decade.

The station, which was supposed to be a multi-functional centre with accommodation facilities, commercial activities, restaurants and escalators, bears no semblance of the proposed look.

The only progress made so far is the construction of first-class waiting rooms and luggage rooms. The work on extension of the foot-over-bridge connecting the Metro station is yet to begin.

All the platforms are not adequately sheltered leaving the passengers to fend for themselves in sun and rain. This apart, the station is poorly connected with BMTC buses.

Interestingly, the Railways has a huge plot of land close to Yeshwantpur station, sufficient enough to build a second terminal. A Rs 25-crore proposal has also been pending for construction of a flyover to address traffic woes on the Outer Ring Road.

However, there had been much progress on the ground.