Similar letters (as below) sent to : (1) Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi (2) Union Railway Minister Shri Piyush Goyal (3) Chairman of the Indian Railway Board Shri Ashwani Lohani (4) DRM, SWR, Shri R. S. Saxena (5) Chief Minister, Gok, Shri Kumaraswamy (6) Deputy Chief Minister, Dr. Parameshwara (7) Chief Secretary, GoK, Shri Vijay Bhaskar (8) Shri Ajay Seth, Chairman, Committee, Bengaluru Traffic. All delivered. Awaiting responses and action. Also, Email sent to Senior Officers at RITES, which is preparing Report for Suburban Trains for Bengaluru.
08 Oct 2018
To : Shri PIYUSH GOYALJI
Honourable Cabinet Minister for Railways
Government of India
Rail Bhawan, Raisina Road,
New Delhi – 110 001.
URGENT – BY SPEED POST
Dear Shri Piyush Goyalji,
SUB : TRAIN SERVICES TO AIRPORT FROM BENGALURU CITY (KSR) / YESHWANTPUR (YPR) RLY. STN.
I am writing on behalf of about 10000 Citizens who have already signed my online Petition requesting https://www.change.org/p/union-railway-minister-bengaluru-needs-trains-to-airport-and-fast ) for Train services to the Kempegowda International Airport at Bengaluru.
The Airport is one of the top 3 busiest in India with about 75000 Air Passengers using it every day and about 1000 Tons of Cargo being handled daily, during 2017-18. The present figures are higher. Another about 25000 people visit the airport every day for work, as Greeters and for other non-flying purposes. A new Runway and Terminal is coming up fast. Over 80% of Users of the Airport are Youngsters, below 50. All these figures indicate very high and increasing footfalls, requiring urgent attention.
The biggest challenge faced by the 1.3 Crore Citizens of Bengaluru is the massive traffic all over the City on account of over 70 Lakh Vehicles, and these numbers are also growing, leading to huge loss of time and money. Additionally, the resultant commute-stress and pollution are affecting the health of all. Unfortunately, the Airport of the I.T. and Technology Capital of India has connectivity to the City by ONLY ROAD and that too ONLY ONE ROAD (in the last 26 kms.). Since the connectivity is only Road-centric, tens of thousands of Cars, Cabs, Buses and Goods Vehicles move from all over the City towards the Airport and return, every day, adding to the mess.
At present, there are only 2 major options to manage the challenge : Metro Train and Railway Train. It is a fact that a Metro Line to the Airport has been approved by the State and Union Governments. However, the Airport Metro Link will not be effective until it is fully ready. I would like to bring to your kind notice that the Airport Link has an elevated section from Airport to Nagavara and from Nagavara to Dairy Circle is an underground section. Only the elevated section from Airport – which is to the North of the City – to Nagavara is of no significant consequence, since Nagavara is on the Northern edge of the City. Work on the U/G section of Namma Metro has not yet begun. It will take about 5 years to complete after it starts. The present traffic to the airport is such that waiting for 5 years for the Metro Line to become effective will lead to chaos. During the next 5 years, the number of Citizens travelling to and from the Airport will cross 2.5 Lakhs per day and the Cargo handled will touch almost 2000 Tons. It is obvious that Bengaluru cannot wait for the Metro to the Airport.
However, fortunately, a grossly under-utilised Railway Line exists just adjacent to the Airport Boundary. This Line can be easily leveraged to provide an alternate mode of transport so as to significantly reduce traffic congestion. The present utilization of the Track from Bengaluru City (KSR) to Yeshwantpur (YPR) is 63%, from Yeshwantpur (YPR) to Yelahanka (YNK) is 50% and from Yelahanka (YNK) to Devanahalli (DHL) is 29%. Challenges of Platform availability and cross-over of other Trains at the Stations can all be handled by the highly experienced, motivated and capable Railway Officials – they have already handled much more challenging situations – to provide a quick and effective solution. By the time a small new Station can be built, all these issues can be handled. The distance from KSR to the nearest point to the Airport on the track (near the Trumpet Interchange on the adjacent National Highway) is about 40 kms and can be covered by a Fast Train with few stops in about 30 to 40 mins. Presently, a Passenger Train covers 26kms on this route in 30 minutes with 4 stops in between at a cost of Rs. 10/-.
I earnestly request you to have this matter examined on priority. The Citizens of Bengaluru would indeed be grateful to you if you can announce this Service and lay the Foundation Stone for a small, simple, single-platform Railway Station on this track nearest to the Airport. A Bus service from here to the Airport Terminal (5 kms) on the existing dedicated Road will serve the purpose presently. Once this service stabilizes, the Railway Track should be extended to the Airport Terminal, and Electrification and Track Doubling work can be taken up.
However, a quick and positive action from your side on this matter will go a long way in mitigating the traffic situation in Bengaluru and will earn the goodwill and gratitude of all Bengaluru citizens and also Visitors to the City. MY HUMBLE AND SINCERE REQUEST ON BEHALF OF THE CITIZENS OF BENGALURU IS FOR THE PRIME MINISTER TO INAUGURATE THIS SERVICE BEFORE THE END OF THIS YEAR, BRINGING HUGE JOY AND MUCH-NEEDED RESPITE TO ALL OF US.
I look forward to hearing from you soon so that I can also update the thousands of Signatories of my Petition, in addition to having hope on positive developments and action.
Thank you.
Sincerely
Rajkumar Dugar
(Concerned Citizen)
P.S. – I am a resident of Bengaluru from over 5 decades and have been working for solutions to various civic and other issues here ; and was a Finalist for the “Citizen of The Year” 2018, for Bengaluru.
Copy to : SHRI NARENDRA MODIJI,
Honourable Prime Minister of India,
South Block, Raisina Hill, New Delhi-110011
with a request to kindly look into the matter on priority.