BENGALURU: The display of bus routes and their timings on 55-inch screens has just made its debut at the Sir M Visvesvaraiah Terminal (SMVT) at Baiyappanahalli, the only railway station in the city within whose premises buses transport rail passengers to different areas presently. The impressive patronage for buses here has now made the BMTC decide to run 100 more trips within the next three months.
Presently, 46 buses make 466 trips from SMVT 24x7. A well-lit, prominent bus hub has been provided by the Bengaluru Railway Division right at the entrance of the terminal.
The trips to Kempegowda Bus Station (Majestic) from where the public can get connected easily to trains, intra-state buses or Metro is the most popular.Chief Traffic Manager (Operations), BMTC, G T Prabhakar Reddy said, “We are witnessing at least 80% patronage on each of our trips.
The services from within the station’s premises were launched two years ago. We operate four routes now from SMVT. Route 300 MV, which connects with Kempegowda station, alone has 14 buses that run 192 trips daily. Five Volvo buses on the same route (V300 MV) run 68 trips daily. The response to the Volvo is fantastic.”
Route No. MP 5 connects the station to Central Silk Board and operates 180 trips daily with 25 buses, while route No 300R connects SMVT to Yesvantpur railway station with 26 trips.
Reddy said, “Buses from this terminating point are really helping passengers who come from long distances with heavy luggage. We are now looking at running 100 more trips from SMVT to Electronics City and a few other areas before the end of this year. We are studying the demand from the public and will decide on it shortly.”
Due to major redevelopment work at Bengaluru Cantonment, buses that used to operate in front of the station have been discontinued. Bus stations are at a walkable distance from KSR, Yesvantpur and KR Puram railway stations.