Proposal for implementation of Bangalore Suburban Rail Project

Introduction:
Bangalore City accounts for 36% of urban population in Karnataka. Due to the city’s
eminent position in software and other services sectors, there is continuous movement of
people from hinterland of Bangalore City for the purpose of work, access to health and
education etc. The Government of Karnataka have taken up the implementation of an
ambitious metro project in order to ease congestion in Bangalore city. The State Government
had also commissioned a comprehensive mobility plan by M/s RITES for Bangalore city and
metropolitan region to examine the future travel demand, traffic projections and to develop
strategies for urban transport sector for the region. The comprehensive traffic and
transportation plan has recommended implementation of suburban rail etc project to connect
Bangalore to cities like Tumkur, Chickballapura, Mandya which are 60 to 70 Kms away from
Bangalore. The suburban railway project would help in easing congestion in Bangalore City
as a large number of people from these cities commute to Bangalore every day. The State
Government had also initiated a feasibility study by RITES to understand the capacity and
constraints of the existing railway infrastructure and to suggest measures for augmenting the
existing suburban network to cater to the potential demand.
The RITES report has made a comprehensive assessment of existing supply, existing as well
as potential demand; constraints in the existing network; institutional arrangements etc and
found the implementation of Bangalore suburban rail project feasible.

Analyzing the demand and identifying the Suburban network:

From an analysis of travel trends at various stations in and around Bangalore, IR
network that could serve Bangalore commuters has been identified as under:
CRS Network in Bangalore
S.No From To Distance
(Km)
1 Bangalore Mandya 92.88
2 Bangalore Yesvantpur 5.35
3 Yesvantpur Tumkur 64.00
4 Yesvantpur Yelahanka 12.45
5 Yelahanka Baiyyappanahalli 19.23
6 Yesvantpur Baiyyappanahalli 16.12
7 Yelahanka Dodballapur 20.72
8 Yelahanka Chikballapur 46.05

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 9 Baiyyappanahalli Hosur 48.59
10 Bangalore Bangarapet 70.21
11 Soldevanhalli Kunigal 45.2@
Total 440.8
@This section is a part of Bangalore – Hasan new line under construction.
Considering urbanisation in this area, this section is also considered for inclusion in
CRS network.

A further analysis of the existing travel pattern of rail commuters was done to identify
the sectors with high demand.
Existing travel pattern of Bangalore rail commuters

Due to the unique layout of the rail network within the central city area, and the many
“hubs‟ and the resultant “routes‟ between the hubs and destinations in the metropolitan

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region, the CRS rail network of 440.8 Km belonging to the below seven corridors were
identified for the study.
 YPR-TK (Yeshvantpur - Tumkur)
 SBC-MYA (Bangalore City - Mandya and beyond )
 YNK-DBU (Yelahanka - Dodballapur)
 YNK-CBP (Yelahanka - Chikballapur)
 BYPL-HSRA (Baiyyappanahalli - Hosur)
 BYPL-BWT (Baiyyappanahalli - Bangarapet)
 SDVL – Kunigal (Soldevanahalli – Kunigal) (This line is presently under
construction by IR)

Accordingly, Demand for urban/suburban rail traffic was assessed in 3 scenarios:

 Scenario I (Low Patronage Scenario): Basic CRS services with very low
multimodal integration at stations: 1 Km catchment area and 10% modal share
of total trips.
 Scenario II (Medium Patronage Scenario): Full-fledged CRS services but
with low multimodal integration: 2 Km catchment area and 20% modal share
of total trips.
 Scenario III (High Patronage Scenario): Full-fledged CRS services but with
good multimodal integration: 5 Km catchment area and 30% modal share of
total trips.

Thus, even in the most conservative scenario, the demand when compared to the
existing supply position indicates that the present supply is able to cater to only 30% of
commuter demand of 2011.

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Assessment of existing infrastructure:
It is seen that the Bangalore terminal (Bangalore City Railway Station) is constrained
in such a manner that it is not in a position to effectively handle a major delay in arrival or
departure of even a single train. Presently, Bangalore City Railway Station has 10 platforms,
6 pit lines, 8 stabling lines and few other lanes. The 10 platforms are fully occupied and
there is a constraint in dealing with additional trains. There is a requirement to construct at
least 2 additional platforms for improving the capacity of the Bangalore City Railway Station.
Lie-overs and engine reversals are other problems faced by the Bangalore City Railway
Station. 52 out of 85 engine reversals trains that used in the Bangalore City Railway Station
face engine reversals. There is a necessity to create additional terminal capacity so that
activities like maintenance of rakes etc. happen preferably elsewhere. There is also a need to
re-structure the station layout so that the platforms could be capable of universal receipt and
despatch of trains. Because of the constraints in Bangalore City Railway Station, new trains
that are being introduced are either running short of Bangalore or are accommodated by
making some other existing trains terminating short of Bangalore. There are at least 6 trains
which should ideally terminate at City Railway Station but are terminating short of
Bangalore. The next important terminal is Yeshavanthapura terminal which deals with 89
passenger and express trains. There is a need to construct pit lanes so as to improve the
terminal capacity of Yeshavanthapura. In addition, additional terminals will have to be
developed. Some of the terminals which could be upgraded are Bayyappanahalli, Hejjala and
Banasavadi etc. There is also necessity to avoid criss-cross movement of trains by
construction of flyovers wherever it is feasible. In addition, automatic signalling is needed to
ensure optimum utilisation of the existing track capacities.

Salient features of the Bangalore Suburban rail Project:

Appreciating the importance of the Bangalore city railway station in the scheme of
things, the State Government has taken a decision to initiate the acquisition of vacant Binny
Mill land which is contiguous to the railway station so that it could be used for construction
of platforms and for shifting of pit lanes. Thus, improving the capacity of Bangalore city
railway station and other important stations is an important feature of the proposed project.
The project also includes electrification and doubling of stretches which are yet to be tackled
by the Indian Railways. It is proposed to introduce EMU rakes as their capacity is 21% more
DEMU/MEMU..

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 Thus, the State Government is keen on taking up Bangalore Suburban Rail Project not
only because it helps in dispersal of traffic from Bangalore through sustainable modes but
also help in improving the capacity of the existing railway infrastructure. The feasibility
report prepared by M/s. RITES has recommended implementation of the project in three
phases.

 Phase 1: Sections where the suburban demand high i.e. constitutes about two
thirds of the demand.

 Phase 2: All balance sections.

 Phase 3: Additional halts on SRS network and to increase EMU rake lengths
from 9 cars to 15 cars.

A portion of the phase – 1(phase -1A) is proposed to be taken for immediate

implementation and it includes electrification of some stretches; automatic signalling;
facilities at terminals, rolling stock etc. Phase 1A is aimed at implementation of additional
services along the corridors with available capacity due to doubling. The identified corridors
under Phase 1A are as follows:
 Bangalore - Mysore Sector
 Bangalore - Bangarapet Sector
 Bangalore - Tumkur Sector

For the Bangalore-Mysore and Bangalore-Bangarapet Sector, the following improvements

have been proposed for implementation of services along the corridor with a total cost
estimate of Rs. 173 crores

Few of the activities proposed for immediate implementation are:

o Procurement of 5 MEMU rakes: Rs. 105 Cr

o Making SBC – BNC into twin single line system and
BNC-BYPL automatic signalling (or IB): Rs. 8 Cr

o Development of 4 pit lines at BYPLN: Rs. 40 Cr

o Development of 2 additional pit lines at YPR: Rs. 20 Cr

MEMU rakes can be run on electrified double line sections i.e. SBC-BWT and SBC-MYA
sectors. 24 services can be run with the proposed facilities which give good relief to the
commuting public. The Bangalore - Tumkur Sector is double line which needs electrification
and automatic signalling of lines with additional improvements to run EMUs and also

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maintenance shed for the MEMUs and EMUs with a total cost estimate of around Rs. 777
crores. With the implementation of Phase 1A with an estimate cost of Rs.950 crores would to
cater to around 6 lakhs commuters i.e. 44 % of estimated rail suburban demand in 2021.

The cost of the phase -1 is estimated to be Rs. 950 crores. The project cost of all three phases
is estimated to be Rs 8759 crores. It is expected that at the end of implementation of phase-
1A, about six lakh trips would be generated on suburban rail and after the implementation of
all the phases, the number of trips generated would be twenty five lakhs.

Proposal to Indian Railways

The State Government has been requesting the Ministry of Railways to approve the
implementation of suburban rail system for Bangalore on the lines of similar initiatives in
Hyderabad and Chennai. The feasibility report of RITES pointed out that the existing
suburban railway services cater to 1.8 lakh trips whereas the existing demand is estimated at
3.2 lakh trips The report has also projected that the future demand for suburban railway
services would be to the tune of 13.5 lakh trips in 2021 and 20.3 lakh trips in 2031.
The feasibility report has recommended implementation of Bangalore suburban railway
project in 3 phases. Phase 1 is further divided into phase 1A and Phase 1 for ease of
implementation. The feasibility report has highlighted the fact that there are capacity
constrains in Bangalore and Yeshwantpur railway stations which also need to be addressed
not just for the sake of suburban rail project but also for improving turn over time of trains
using the existing stations. The report has also recommended investment in automatic
signalling and doubling and electrification of tracks which are yet to be tackled.
The State Government has already initiated action for the preparation of detailed project
report for phase 1A of the project. The State Government has also decided to form a
Bangalore Suburban Rail Company Limited for the implementation of suburban railway
project. The formation of the Company is under way. The State Government has also
decided to acquire the Binny Mill land for the suburban rail project as well as for
decongesting the Bangalore City railway Station. The State has been very proactive in
providing assistance for railway projects. Rs 1900 crores have been spent so far for the
railway projects and more than 2500 acres of land has been transferred to Indian Railways in
the last three years. The fruitful relationship between the State and the Indian Railways is
proposed to be strengthened further with the implementation of Bangalore suburban rail
project.

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The Ministry of Railways is requested to:
 Give its in principle approval for participating in the project;
 Contribute to the equity of the Bangalore Suburban Railway Company
Limited;
 Commit to contribute 50% of project cost and to implement the project in
collaboration with the State Government.