Bengaluru: Bridge the metro-bus-rail gaps

A skywalk to link Majestic Metro Station with the KSR Railway Station. DH PHOTO / S K DINESH

After years of waiting, a bridge will finally link the Yeswanthpura Metro and Railway Stations. DH PHOTO / SHIVAKUMAR B H

Lugging heavy baggage, commuters struggled for years to shift between the Yeswanthpura Metro and Railway Stations. Inter-modal connectivity was a joke as the Railways and Metro wrangled over a bridge that barely cost Rs 1 crore to build! A recent deal will finally connect the two, but is that all?

No, despite the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL)’s plan to link the nearby Sandal Soap Factory Metro Station with the Yeswanthpura bus terminal and the Indian Institute of Science (IISc). For, the connectivity gaps across the city between road, rail and Metro are far too many.

Here’s one glaring gap: Commuters alighting from at least five Metro Stations on Tumakuru Road have no way to safely cross over to the other side. There are no skywalks or subways. Apparently, this was not even thought about when the alignment was planned years ago!

Deals to coordinate

Commuters young and old risk their lives crossing the busy highway. To be safe, they are forced to walk over two kilometres to get to a junction. Can the recent agreement be a trigger for similar deals between BMRCL and civic agencies such as the Bruhath Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP)? Inter-modal connectivity is critical for seamless commuter movement. For instance, as urban mobility analyst Sanjeev Dyamannavar points out, the linkages should be smartly planned and executed for the Metro interchange stations at Silk Board Junction and the Jayadeva intersection.

Silk Board Junction

At the Silk Board Junction, smart integration is key for the intersecting Airport Metro line, the R V Road – Electronics City line, Hosur Road and Outer Ring Road traffic. “They also need to provide halting space for 4-6 buses both intra and inter-city, proper skywalks / overbridges for pedestrian crossings on Hosur Road, and vehicle parking. These should be part of the design,” he notes.

The same applies to the Jayadeva intersection, where two Metro lines cross, one elevated and another underground. “All the four entry points of the interchange station should have foot over-bridges. These bridges should also link to bus bays, taxi and autorickshaw stands, and paid parking slots.”

K R Puram

Currently in an inglorious mess, K R Puram has a huge connectivity issue between the railway station, the inter-state and intra-city bus stops. The entire ORR comes to a halt here. The K R Puram Metro Station is bound to add to the chaos.

The key is to plan smartly and integrate the multiple modes seamlessly. The Metro Station will see the convergence of the Airport line from Silk Board Junction, the Baiyappanahalli – Whitefield line, the commuters heading to K R Puram railway station and the bus stops on ORR and Old Madras Road.

The solution could be an elevated walkway that links the two stations with ramps to the bus stops. Besides the mandatory bus bays, the Metro Station will also require auto stands and taxi stands for commuters taking the Airport line.

TTMC link, a model

The agreement for a 1.5km-long foot over-bridge (FOB) linking the Sandal Soap Factory Metro Station with the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC)’s Traffic Transit Management Centre (TTMC) at Yeswanthpura could be a model for similar projects elsewhere in the city. Such linkages could be explored between the Banashankari TTMC and Metro Station, Vijayanagar TTMC and Metro Station. Connectivity will also be boosted if the existing FOB from the far end of the Old Madras Road to the Baiyappanahalli Metro Terminal entrance is linked to the elevated bridge that goes all the way to the railway station and beyond.

ORR connectivity

To decongest ORR, the suburban rail stations were often cited as a sure-shot way out. But connectivity has always been an issue. Before the Covid-19 pandemic struck, many employees of IT parks on ORR had perfected ways to take the train and walk or cycle that last mile between the stations and their offices.

Mobility experts suggest elevated walkways to make these last-mile connects seamless. If the Yeswanthpura TTMC to Sandal Soap Metro Station 1.5-km walkway can be designed and built, why not here. Add a cycling track on those elevated lines and the long distance could be covered in a jiffy.