BENGALURU: Built at a cost of Rs 314 crore, the Sir M Visvesvaraya Terminal (SMVT) in Baiyappanahalli was meant to provide rail passengers the luxuries an airport offered. Its swanky, classy appearance was modelled on the Kempegowda International Airport. Poor maintenance on all fronts has put paid to the fabulous experience it was meant to offer passengers just within two years of its launch.
The concourse area which comprises the ticketing area and waiting halls on the ground floor plus the food counters on the first floor were planned as fully air-conditioned, the first such in India. Three chilling plants are installed in a building inside its premises for it. With temperatures soaring in Bengaluru daily, the public are put to much inconvenience due to the frequent issues these plants have.
A source said that, “One of them is not working while two do."
Another source said that two plants were not working but one was operational. "The concourse area is huge and only if all three plants work does one feel cool inside," explained a railway official.
This reporter visited the terminal and found massive blowers on the extreme end of the station pumping in air inside but it had a limited reach. Overall, the station feels enveloped in heat mainly due to glass exteriors and doors and absence of windows.
A source familiar with the operations inside the station alleged the air-conditioning is switched off from 10.30 pm to 8.30 am daily. "Railway officials are probably trying to save electricity. Why spend so much if they want to economise," he rhetorically posed.
While the Station Master's room has a wall-mounted fan, the ticket checkers room has fans and a cooler. The waiting room with passengers is boiling with neither fans nor AC working here.
A railway official in the DRMs office conceded,"Multiple complaints have been received in the last two months from SMVT officials that public are upset over the heat inside the station. Some have complained on social media too.”
Mumeer-ul-Alum, a passenger, came 16 hours early to board the Doronto Express which will depart the next day said that,"It is quite hot inside. I remember SMVT being called as an airport railway station!”
Anita Tiwari, a passenger told TNIE, "Can't u feel the heat all around? There is just no AC here nor windows nor fan."
On an average, 14 pairs of trains arrive and depart daily with footfalls touching upto 30,000 per day. "This figure shoots up by 3,000 or 4,000 during festive time," says an official. The Sangamitra Express to Bihar, Guwahati Express & Howrah Express are popular long-distance trains from here.
A pipeline with chilled water had a leakage
Additional Divisional Railway Manager, Administration, Bengaluru Division, Parikshit Mohanpuria said, "The chiller plant provided at SMVT was having a technical glitch of chilled water leaking from the underground pipeline which was supplying it to the Air Handling Unit. This leakage was very minute in natuire and due to this, there was cooling issue at station. However, the leakage was identified and arrested recently and now two chiller plants are made functional."
With an abrupt increase in heat in the city and increased footfalls at the station, the cooling is getting impacted and efforts are being made to keep the internal AC temperature under control, the ADRM added.
Other problems abound too. The baggage scanner is not working and the government railway police meant to man it merrily keep chatting away on mobiles while the railway protection force personnel are nowhere around. Public are coolly bringing in multiple bags unchecked.
Railways issues response
Meanwhile, the South Western Railway in an official response has stated that the temperature inside the concourse area in SMVT is being maintained at 24-27 degrees Celsius. “It is designed in such a way that 2 plants are to be kept operational to maintain the desired temperature in the station area and one is to be kept as a spare,” claimed the letter from the public relations officer.
Further to enhance passenger comfort in the waiting hall area, 6 units of air coolers, 20 units of pedestal and wall mounting fans have been provided. As far as the leakage and baggage scanner is concerned the railways said it was a minute issue and was rectified by the maintenance staff, while the scanner is working 24 x 7 with occasional “technical glitches.”
The railways also refuted the claims that many have complained about the air conditioning and noted, “Since January 2024, only one complaint and one suggestion was received through Rail Madad and written letter respectively. Immediate action was taken in this regard by the administration.”