BENGALURU: Kodigehalli residents have a solution to tackle the Hebbal flyover traffic bottleneck. Their suggestion: Have trains halt for a minute at Kodigehalli railway station. This would make them shift to public transport, thus reducing the congestion, they say.
The residents of Canara Bank Layout, Vidyaranyapura, Sahakarnagar, Thindlu and Kodigehalli have no access to the metro trains, but they do have access to the Kodigehalli railway station. Unfortunately, the station if of little use for commuters as no train halts here. “We do not have any other alternative routes to commute. So the residents from these localities have no choice but to use the Hebbal flyover. At times it takes nearly an hour just to cross the flyover stretch,” said Anil Srinivas, Member of Canara Bank Emplopyees Layout Residents Welfare Association.
He said that there were already four trains which come to Yeshwantpur via Kodigehalli and then another four leaving Yeshwantpur via Kodigehalli. “If these trains halt at the Kodigehalli station to and fro, then it would be of great benefit. By facilitating this, the Southern Western Railway (SWR) can help thousands of commuters from the surrounding areas. This demand does not require any additional expenditure either to the state or central governments,” he added.
“There is a train that runs between Yelahanka to Yeshwantpur via Kodigehalli. If the train stops at Kodigehalli railway station for at least a minute, it would be a boon to the residents. They can hop on to the tain and get down at Yeshwantpur. Further from there, they could take the Yeshwantpur metro and go to their destination,” said Raj Kumar Dugar, member of Citizens For Citizens (C4C).
The residents had recently met Ashok Kumar Verma, Divisional Railway Manager, SWR and he is believed to have told them that he would look into their request. The residents plan to meet D V Sadananda Gowda, Member of Parliament, and highlight the issue.