Work begins on three extra-wide FOBs at Bengaluru Cantt

Bengaluru: With four new platforms constructed at Bengaluru Cantonment, work has begun to build three extra-wide foot overbridges (FOB) that will connect all eight platforms at the city's oldest railway station. 

Bengaluru Cantonment currently has one FOB that connects platforms 1 and 2. Under a Rs 480-crore redevelopment project, it will get three 24-metre-wide FOBs. The foundations for the FOBs and the station building were dug recently. The existing FOB will be demolished, Kusuma Hariprasad, Additional Divisional Railway Manager (Administration), Bengaluru, told DH.

The existing FOB is two metres wide and 16 metres long.

The South Western Railway (SWR) is also planning to formally inaugurate the four new platforms that are named 1B, 1C, 1D and 1E, well-placed sources said. Only one of them (1B) is currently being used and plays host to the Coimbatore Vande Bharat Express. The Railway Board's approval is awaited for the formal inauguration, the sources added. 

Since these are island platforms, the railways plans to utilise them for running suburban (MEMU) trains to nearby towns. There are also plans to introduce more long-distance trains from Bengaluru Cantonment, but the lack of pit lines may create problems. 

Bengaluru Cantonment doesn't have any pit line, which is where trains are taken for maintenance and repair. It has one stabling line (where trains are parked at the end of service), which can accommodate only trains that have 16 coaches or less, Kusuma said. 

The station's daily footfall stands at 25,000 and the railways hopes it will rise to 70,000 in the long run. 

New road to open in Jan-end

The railways has built a new 24-metre-wide road by clearing the old parking lot in front of the Bengaluru Cantonment railway station. 

The new road has been built by the South Western Railway's construction wing and will open to traffic by the end of January, Kusuma Hariprasad, Additional Divisional Railway Manager (Administration), Bengaluru, said. 

The railways will utilise about 200 metres of Cantonment Road to build a large circulating area for the station, while a new parking lot will be built further ahead, she explained. 

It's not clear what will happen to the several fully grown trees located along the 200-metre road. 

Kusuma said while there were no immediate plans to axe any of those trees, any future requirements would be fulfilled only after obtaining the necessary permissions from the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) and the Forest Department. 

Rajkumar Dugar, founder of the Citizens For Citizens collective, said the  station redevelopment would gridlock the area and suggested that the railways build a 75-metre-long road to link the new road and Thimmaiah Road as a bypass. 

The connecting road can be joined with Thimmaiah Road near Alliance Française and traffic signals can be installed there if required, he said. 

Dugar said that in response to his letter, the Rail Land Development Authority wrote back that it would review the matter and take necessary action. 

The new 24-metre-wide four-lane road built in front of the Bengaluru Cantonment railway station.