BENGALURU: In a major relief to passengers arriving or departing from Yesvantpur railway station, the Bengaluru Railway Division has after one-and-a-half years fully opened the entry towards Platform One, popularly known as the market side entry. A revamped parking facility has been readied here, said railway officials.
The entry was closed on July 18, 2023 for the massive redevelopment work of the station on the market side. It was opened for pedestrians alone a year later (June 2024), but it was opened fully for all vehicles with amenities on December 24 last year, said a railway official.
Residents of many areas, including Mathikere, RT Nagar, Dollars Colony, Sanjay Nagar, Vidyaranyapura, Malleswaram and Hebbal, stand to benefit. “When approaching the station from their residence, they had to take a detour from the Yesvantpur Circle to Mysore Sandal Soap factory, take a U-turn and then enter the station after travelling an additional 2.5 km. They can reach the station faster now. It is benefiting all passengers too as the Metro side entry is getting decongested,” another official said.
The entry was shut to complete the construction of numerous amenities along this side which are ready now, except the arch. “A ramp running for 400 metres from the Yesvantpur Circle directly to the station, a five-floored multi-level car parking unit, offices of the Government Railway Police and the Railway Protection Force and a linen office are among the new buildings completed,” he added.
A massive arch is being built at present which will have the entry/exit boards and other indicators on it. “For this, we have temporarily shut the entry for three days from Wednesday (January 8) till Friday (January 10). It will be reopened after the arch work is over,” he explained.
A senior official of the commercial department said, “We used to have 1,000 visitors per day earlier and it has shot up to an average of 13,000 daily now and is set to go up further,” he added.
The redevelopment work is happening on the other entry too (PF 6). “After some months, the entry there might be closed. Hence, opening the new entry is of critical importance,” he added.
Online transfer of daily collections made mandatory
To put an end to any form of malpractice by commercial division counter staff across the South Western Railway Zone, it has commenced mandatory online transfer of all collections on a daily basis. It was done only physically for the last two centuries.
“This applies to daily ticketing fare collected at the counters of each station as well the charges for parcels booked. The move will curb short remittance or even non-remittance of cash to the bank by staff involved in ticket booking. It is in line with a Railway Board mandate,” said a senior official. There will be 96 remittance points in the Bengaluru Division, one at each station and the online transfer can be done only by the Booking Supervisor.
Since we need to take the full 24 hours into account as one day, we need to wait till 12 midnight for a single day’s collection. The online transfer will be done by the Booking Supervisor the next day,” he added.