Congestion causing costly train delays for commuters

Rudresh works in a private company near Hoodi. Living in Basaveshwaranagar, he finds it convenient to take a train to Hoodi, escaping chaotic road traffic and the burden of driving. But the joy was short-lived, as he found himself trapped in the delayed trains, forcing him to report late for work.

Like Rudresh, thousands of people commute by trains from the city’s periphery and even Hosur and Tumakuru to reach the city centre. They hope to reach their workplaces fast, but bear the brunt of inordinate train delays these days.

Considering the general traffic and lower productivity of employees, some companies in Whitefield area have recently raised their working hours from 9 to 9.5 hours. There are cases where employees caught in train delays were forced to take half-a-day leave for their late entry into office.

Since they do not find trains after 6.45 pm to return home, many are forced to spend three to four hours in the heavy evening rush.

Two key factors contribute to the delays: The ongoing coaching terminal work in Baiyappanahalli and all other pending works undertaken by the South Western Railways.

Congestion triggers

Commuter footfall at the KSR City Railway Station (Majestic) exceeds two lakh. More than 130 trains arrive and depart the Station daily, while Yeshwanthpura terminal sees an average of 110 trains every day. About 50-60 trains originate from Bangalore city station on an average, while 24-30 trains originate from Yeshwanthpura.

Railway sources attribute the congestion here to the high number of trains introduced in the last few years. This has not been matched with the required infrastructure upgrades. The problems related to delays are deeply interlinked.

Passenger trains get delayed because long-distance and express trains are prioritised over them in granting entry to stations or clearing the ways. Due to lack of automatic signalling, trains do not get clearance until the train ahead of them reaches the next station, again resulting in more delay.

For trains arriving from Hosur side, single track is the biggest problem. The doubling of tracks, which is an essential requirement for automatic signalling, is still in progress. All of these hits the passenger train commuters hard with inordinate delays.

The delays affect long distance trains as well. Take the case of ‘Superfast’ Train No. 12678 (Ernakulam to KSR Bengaluru). According to the Indian Railway’s National Train Enquiry System, this train reaches the City Railway Station after an average delay of 1 hour 8 minutes everyday.

Many trains are not let into the terminal due to capacity overload. In a railway terminal that handles more than two lakh commuters daily, delays could lead to loss of lakhs of man hours.

Ray of hope

The new coaching terminal in Baiyappanahalli could help decongest the two existing terminals and shift the load on train maintenance systems. South Western Railway Public Relation Officer Vijaya says the proposal on the maintenance is in its initial stages, and nothing has been finalised yet.

Preferring anonymity, an official explains that cleaning and maintenance of the trains halting and originating from Yeshwanthpura terminal takes place at the yard regularly. Tracks are rarely free. Due to lack of space here, one or two trains go to Baiyappanahalli yard in the evenings and return the next day before their departure time.

Shifting some trains to the Baiyappanahalli terminal will decongest the Yeswanthpura terminal and reduce burden on the staff, besides saving resources like water used in cleaning and maintenance. It will also reduce delays in train arrivals and departures. The Northeast-bound trains, he adds, will be shifted to Baiyappanahalli.

Another railway official paints a rosy picture for future rail journeys from Bengaluru. Once Baiyappanahalli terminal opens, and the ongoing track-doubling and automatic signalling works are completed, delays will be reduced, he assures.