17 Jan 2022

During the past 2 decades, why has Bengaluru been allowed to become so consistently and globally infamous for Traffic Congestion and all its consequences? Is it because of lack of proper understanding, vision and action? Is it because of lop-sided priorities? Is it because of lack of Transparency and Public Consultations in Govt decisions? Or is it because of an I-don't-care attitude towards compromise with larger public interests? Whatever be the real reasons, 2 Crore people in Namma Bengaluru and its surrounding towns are suffering daily hardships because of slow, impractical, costly and downright wrong decisions regarding local commute.

After about 2 decades of pushing for Local Train Services, finally on 21 OCT 2020, the Union Govt gave its sanction for the much-needed but much-delayed Bengaluru Suburban Rail Project, with 4 Corridors totalling 148 Kms at a sanctioned cost of Rs.15767 Crores (approximately Rs.105 Crores per Km) to be built by K-RIDE. The Union Cabinet, based on its study of the situation and the needs of Bengaluru, appropriately asked for expeditious completion of Airport Corridor from KSR City Rly Stn within 3 yrs, while giving 6 yrs for the other 3 Corridors. The very fact that priority was specified is extremely significant. Those who justify the down-grading of Suburban Rail Airport Corridor should ask the Union Government why it specified this priority.

However, NOTHING HAS MOVED YET !! We are now in 2022, and NOT A SPECK OF DUST on the ground has moved vis-a-vis Suburban Rail Project, on any of the 4 corridors, even after 450 days out of 2190 days (6 years) given for its full completion. It seems like some forces want to delay this for reasons not clearly known. Meanwhile, K-RIDE has been asked to work on other 2 Corridors first and not on the Airport corridor. Such a major decision by the State Govt to put the Airport Corridor on hold, against the interests of Bengaluru, against what has been specified in the Sanction Letter, and against advice from State Govt's own Department of Urban Land Transport (DULT), with Zero Public Consultation and Zero Transparency, is indeed SHOCKING, to say the least !!!

Bengaluru badly needs ALL modes of Public Transport (PT) to handle the situation, which is going from bad to worse. The ONLY solution to many of our problems is Effective, Efficient & Extensive PT along with Tight Integration between all modes of PT. Pitching for one form of PT at the cost of others is not in the interests of the City. All forms of PT must complement each other. There is no place for monopoly. Many Cities in India are far ahead of Bengaluru in terms of PT. Bengaluru is unfortunately lagging behind, despite being a major Technology and Commercial Hub of the Country. 

Why is Airport Corridor so important for the City? Well, for the same reasons that BMRCL is trying to build its Airport Corridor on a war-footing. BMRCL received sanction on 07 June 2021 to build 58 Kms of Airport Corridor within an “extended” period of 5 years, from Central Silk Board to Airport Terminal at a cost of Rs.14788 Crores (approximately Rs. 255 Crores per Km). Pre-COVID average daily footfalls at Airport were 1.3Lakhs. Presently, they are around 1Lakh - and rising. Terminal2 is almost ready and will double the capacity of this Airport, which is one of the fastest growing Airports in the world. The Airport is becoming a destination by itself, with many new Projects coming up nearby. Flying is no longer a luxury - many village folk and people from economically weaker sections are flying. By 2023-24, we will see about 3Lakhs average daily footfalls at the Airport. All these people will be forced to commute on City Roads adding to congestion. We must not forget that any PT to Airport will additionally facilitate en-route local commute. But, apart from roads and more roads, there is no other practical option yet for Airport commute, and hence all movements will only add to congestion on our roads. Also, Suburban Rail Airport Corridor has the least land acquisitions out of all the 4 corridors sanctioned. Footfalls expected on this corridor are highest among all 4 corridors. So, it makes business sense also to complete it first. Building Rail Corridor does not disrupt normal road traffic since most of the work is away from the regular roads. Those who believe Metro to Airport will be functional from Central Silk Board to Airport Terminal by 2024-25 : well, I really wish it becomes true. Performance of BMRCL during last over 15 years does not provide confidence of timely completion.  

We need to remember that Airport Corridor of Metro will mainly serve the South-Eastern, Far Eastern and North-Eastern parts of the City, while Suburban Rail will directly cater to the South Western, Central and North Western parts of the City. Also, to cover 58 Kms from Central Silk Board to Airport Terminal, Metro will take about one and half hours. To cover 41 Kms from City Rly Stn to Airport Terminal, the Suburban Rail (which will be as comfortable as Metro, if not better) will take about 1 hour.  The Rail corridor additionally has Metro Stns and BMTC Bus Stands nearby as well as Railway Terminals at both KSR City and Yeshvantpura Rly Stns. Suburban Trains will run with a frequency of one every 5 to 12 minutes. Even if these two modes were catering to the same route and areas (which they are not), Suburban Rail Project received approval about 9 months BEFORE Metro to Airport did. But it is not showing any real progress. Why ? Lastly, going on adding to road infrastructure is not a solution.

The Terms and Conditions of Sanction for Metro Airport Corridor has 2 important inclusions: 1. GoK should provide multi-modal integration, including suburban railways (by involving Ministry of Railways) to provide a well-connected network in the region.

2. GoK should set up a Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority (UMTA), duly backed by legislation, to facilitate coordinated planning and implementation of projects related to urban transport and their integrated management.

It looks like GoK has ignored these conditions. Forget providing multi-modal integration, the same speed, support, energy, free-hand and fervour are missing when it comes to Suburban Rail Project. And, there is no UMTA yet !!

So, why have hands and legs of K-RIDE been tied? Why is Bengaluru being deprived of Suburban Rail to Airport Terminal? Was Union Government wrong in specifying the priority for Airport Corridor? Was DULT wrong in corroborating the same? Is the Union Government even formally aware of the reversal of its stipulation? Who has taken these decisions? And why?

Bengaluru is actually looking at a crisis looming large. THE WRITING IS ON THE WALL. And, JUSTICE DELAYED IS JUSTICE DENIED.

Our DEMAND is for the State Government to (1) immediately restore the priority of Airport Corridor of Suburban Rail Project, (2) ensure work is carried out on a war-footing, (3) monitor the work at the highest levels and (4) aim for Suburban Rail from KSR Bengaluru City Rly Stn to Airport Terminal to be made operational by October 2023, as stipulated in the Sanction Letter by the Union Cabinet.

We pray for IMMEDIATE CORRECTIVE ACTIONS by all Concerned Decision-makers in the larger interests of Namma Bengaluru. Dhanyavaadagalu.