BANGALORE, July 18, 2014

Funding for Byappanahalli coach terminal hangs fire

Renuka Phadnis

While the Railway Budget has proposed setting up a coach terminal at Byappanahalli, officials said its funding has yet to be worked out.

A final decision on whether the coach terminal should be built with funds from Indian Railways or with public-private partnership (PPP) model is yet to be taken.

Anil Kumar Agarwal, Divisional Railway Manager (DRM), South Western Railway, Bangalore, said the decision has to be taken by the Railway Board. While funds are an issue for the project to move forward, land is not a problem as railway land is available. The Byappanahalli coach terminal is to be constructed where a railway goods yard stood earlier. The yard has shifted to the satellite goods terminal (SGT) at a location between Byappanahalli and Banaswadi.

Byappanahalli is said to be ideal for a coach terminal since it already has a metro station and will enhance intermodal connectivity. Also, trains there can operate in all five directions: towards Salem, Dharmavaram, Jolarpet, Tumkur and Mysore.

Coach terminals repair, maintain and clean trains. Wheel and axle, electrical and mechanical systems are also corrected, while batteries are charged, switches and ball bearings checked and brought to working order.

Sources said there are many trains such as Karnataka Express, Udyaan Express, Rajdhani (to Delhi), Duranto (to Delhi) and Sampark Kranti, which go on the Dharmavaram route. However, it is a single line.

Meanwhile, the existing two coach terminals at Bangalore City Railway Station and Yeshwantpur Station are saturated with trains being serviced there.

The coach terminal at the Bangalore City Railway Station services 82 trains, including mail, express, and passenger trains originating from Bangalore City and passing through it. The one at Yeshwantpur Station services 80 trains, originating and passing through Yeshwantpur Station.