BENGALURU: With the Bengaluru Suburban Rail network and Namma Metro’s airport line set to have a stop at Channasandra in East Bengaluru, the railway station here, is set to witness an exponential increase in footfall. Bearing this in mind, the Bengaluru Railway Division is upgrading the station in a big way.
Presently, all passenger trains (DEMU/MEMU) stop here, while Express trains heading towards Delhi or Mumbai pass through without stoppage. The station records an average footfall of 12,000.
Division Railway Manager Yogesh Mohan told TNIE, “We are putting in place crucial infrastructure at the Channasandra station presently to ensure it can cater to the expected exponential increase in footfall. Work has already begun to upgrade the station and remodel the yard. An additional platform is being built to augment the existing two platforms here.”
A cost of Rs 20 crore is being spent, under the Amrit Bharat Station Scheme, which aims to modernise railway stations across Indian Railways. “It will become more important than Yelahanka railway station when we complete it, and will get atleast half the traffic that Yesvantpur station presently gets,” the DRM said.
“We will also be building an FOB to connect all the three platforms. All public amenities like parking, ticketing counters, food outlets will be created here,” he added.
The suburban rail station will come right next to this station and so there may be no need for any bridge to link the two stations, the DRM said.
BMRCL was also planning an FOB to connect its Metro station with both the Suburban Rail station and the railway station. “Due to the extra platform, we can even expect long-distance trains to have a stop here, in the future. It will help public enormously, as they presently travel upto SMVT station in Baiyappanahalli to board trains. They can board the train here only, which will offer a big relief to localites,” Mohan said.