Small, yet useful railway station ready for inauguration

Officials yet to decide on trains that will stop at the station

Soon, residents of Jayanagar, Vijayanagar and Mysore Road need not go to the Nayandahalli railway station to catch a train. The railways has constructed a small station at Hampinagar in Vijayanagar (near RPC Layout) and it will be thrown open in a couple of days.

On March 2, Union Minister for Railways Mallikarjun Kharge had announced that the Hampinagar station would be ready by March 15. The station is likely to be inaugurated the same day without much fanfare, owing to the model code of conduct.

Most of the work on the station is already over and ticketing services are also likely to start on March 15.

A relatively smaller station, it is spread over five kilometres and passengers have to get in and out through the level crossing, due to congestion around the station. Officials are yet to decide on trains that will stop at the station.

Sources said that to begin with one or two passenger trains will stop here in the morning and evening for the convenience of those working in nearby places.

Speaking to Deccan Herald, divisional railway manager Anil Kumar Aggarwal said, “It’s a small station to start with. Later, depending on the requirement, it will be expanded. So far, it has not been decided on the trains which will have stoppages. We are waiting for an approval on this from our headquarters.”

It is being renamed as the Vijayanagar Krishnadevaraya station. Since the station is located in a busy area and is surrounded by encroachments, it will be quite a task for passengers to approach the station. Railway officials said that they may seek the BBMP’s help whenever required to clear the area of encroachments.

The railways has managed to get the station constructed without seeking financial aid from any agency.

When questioned why the station was not mentioned in the railway budget, officials said that this is a very small station and does not need to be mentioned in the budget.