BENGALURU: Offering a major relief to passengers expected to interchange from Metro to rail travel at the Cantonment railway station, the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd has decided to provide a foot over bridge from the upcoming Bamboo Bazaar Metro station to the entrance of the railway station.The foot over bridge (FOB) will continue till the railway underpass and have escalators at both ends. The station falls under the Nagawara-Gottigere line (Reach-6) of Phase II.
The decision was conveyed by BMRCL Managing Director Ajay Seth to Rajkumar Dugar, convenor of Citizens for Citizens (C4C), who was at the forefront of a campaign to retain the original plan to have a Metro station at Cantonment.BMRCL’s move to shift the Metro station from Cantonment to a playground at Bamboo Bazaar to save Rs 1,000 crore had drawn much flak and generated frequent protests, both online and offline, from citizen’s groups. Passengers who want to interchange between the two modes would have to walk nearly 750 metre to do so.
Seth said, “BMRCL will construct the FOB of about 700 metre length up to Cantonment Station (from Bamboo Bazaar Metro station) and further 500 metre extension beyond that up to the junction in front of the railway underpass.” The underpass is toward the Vasanth Nagar direction.
Dugar said, “We had been campaigning since 2017 for the original plan of a Metro station at Cantonment to be retained. I am relieved that passengers will now have this facility that will easily connect the Bamboo Bazaar Metro station with Cantonment station. BMRCL has also promised to explore the possibility of installing a travelator along the FOB.”
BMRCL had proposed a tunnel earlier. “The tunnel from Bamboo Bazaar runs only up to 250 metre and will terminate at the railway compound. The FOB will lead to the entrance and will be much more convenient for the public,” Dugar said. Widening of road around the Metro station, extending Metro entry to Millers Road and establishing an auto stand on New Bamboo Bazaar Road were also planned, Dugar added.