Baiyappanahalli to Electronics City in 35 minutes flat!

Bypassing the hyper-congested Outer Ring Road, the Silk Board junction and the clogged intersections of Hosur Road, a trial commute from Baiyappanahalli to Electronics City was completed in 35 minutes flat. All it took was a quick suburban train trip and a breezy cab ride on Wednesday.

Two days after the launch of a dedicated DEMU train from Banaswadi to Hosur, the time was just ripe for a reality check. The starting point was the Baiyappanahalli railway station, linked by a foot overbridge to the sprawling Namma Metro terminal.

The train, operated since March 12, chugged in at 10.20 am, 10 minutes later than scheduled. Since it was still early days for the new service, passenger numbers were few. Most compartments were near empty. But the few commuters ready to board were confident they would bypass the peak-hour road traffic in a jiffy.

At first stop, the Bellandur Road station, a few IT employees hooked to suburban trains alighted. Ten minutes of walk and they would reach their Kadubeesanahalli office on Outer Ring Road. Others on board awaited their turn, getting off the train at the Carmelaram station.

Among them was software engineer Srinivasan Venkatesan, happy that he had just evaded a tiring ORR road trip that would have taken at least 90 minutes. The time: 10.32 am. In less than 10 minutes, the DEMU train had arrived at the Heelalige station, barely 2 km from Chandapura Circle. The train journey lasted 22 minutes.

But Electronics City was still a good 7.5 km away. Booked en route to Heelalige, an Uber cab was ready at the station. Minutes later, the cab had got onto the six-lane Hosur Road, heading straight to Electronics City. At 10.55 am sharp, the cab and a DH team had reached the toll plaza. The entire journey was over in 35 minutes.

The train ticket cost Rs 10, while the cab ride cost was shared by four passengers. The entire 35-minute trip covering over 25 km was completed burning just Rs 35. But the Heelalige station master indicated that it could be even cheaper, as 90% of the regular commuters preferred monthly passes. That worked out to Rs 185 for 30 days or Rs 500 for three months.