Bengaluru: Karnataka has one Grade 1, six Grade 2 and 17 Grade 3 railway stations, according to the latest five-yearly revision in the categorisation of train stations.
The Railway Board announced the revised classification on Tuesday, based on passenger earnings and the number of outward passengers handled at railway stations in 2023-24.
According to the Railway Board document verified by DH, 8,809 stations are operational across India handling passenger traffic. Mumbai's Thane railway station recorded the highest footfall at 9.30 crore, while the New Delhi station generated the most revenue, Rs 3,337.66 crore.
KSR Bengaluru, Karnataka's busiest, is one of the 28 railway stations categorised into Non Suburban Grade 1 (NSG1). In 2023-24, it served 2.48 crore passengers (1.09 crore reserved and 1.38 crore unreserved), earning Rs 803.76 crore from originating passengers.
A station has to handle over 2 crore outward passengers and earn over Rs 500 crore in a financial year to qualify as NSG1.
Mysuru, Yeshwantpur, Hubballi, SMVT Bengaluru, Mangaluru Central and Kalaburagi have been categorised into NSG2 stations, which handle between 1 crore and 2 crore outward passengers and earn Rs 100 crore to Rs 500 crore.
Mysuru, Yeshwantpur, Hubballi, Mangaluru Central, Kalaburagi and SMVT Bengaluru were the busiest, in that order.
However, SMVT Bengaluru, the city's newest terminal, generated the second-highest revenue, at Rs 456.30 crore, followed by Yeshwantpur, Mysuru, Mangaluru, Kalaburagi and Hubballi.
Mysuru served 97.33 passengers (23.34 lakh reserved and 73.99 lakh unreserved), earning Rs 156.51 crore.
Yeshwantpur served 96.29 lakh passengers (46.43 lakh reserved and 49.45 lakh unreserved), earning Rs 400.58 crore.
Hubballi served 55.48 lakh passengers (21.14 lakh reserved and 34.34 lakh unreserved), earning Rs 104,96 crore). It was upgraded from NSG3 to NSG2.
Mangaluru Central served 49.54 lakh passengers (14.91 lakh reserved and 34.63 lakh unreserved passengers), earning Rs 110.32 crore. It was upgraded from NSG3 to NSG2.
Kalaburagi handled 46.02 lakh passengers (14.01 lakh reserved and 32 lakh unreserved), earning Rs 108.13 crore. It moved from Grade 3 to Grade 2.
SMVT Bengaluru served 44.49 lakh passengers (31.25 lakh reserved and 13.23 lakh unreserved), earning Rs 456.30 crore. It was upgraded from NSG6 to NSG2.
Across India, a total of 113 railway stations fall under NSG2, which handle 50 lakh to 1 crore passengers and earn Rs 20 crore to Rs 100 crore.
Karnataka has 17 of them. The busiest were Bangarpet, KR Puram, Kengeri, Raichur, Bengaluru Cantonment, Davangere, Shivamogga Town, Belagavi, Arsikere, Ballari, Vijayapura, Yadgir, Yelahanka, Hosapete, Bidar, Mangaluru Junction and Dharwad, in that order.
Bangarpet handled 53.58 lakh passengers (1.69 lakh reserved and 51.88 lakh unreserved), earning Rs 29.35 crore.
KR Puram handled 43.65 lakh passengers (13.36 lakh reserved and 30.29 lakh unreserved), earning Rs 99.69 crore.
Kengeri handled 43.23 lakh passengers (1.15 lakh reserved and 3.17 lakh unreserved), earning Rs 73.74 crore.
Raichur handled 27.92 lakh passengers (4.96 lakh reserved and 13.76 lakh unreserved), earning Rs 43.47 crore.
Bengaluru Cantonment handled 24.01 lakh passengers (5.71 lakh reserved and 18.30 lakh unreserved), earning Rs 38.81 crore.
Davangere handled 23.02 lakh passengers (5.56 lakh reserved and 17.46 lakh unreserved), earning Rs 36.33 crore.
Shivamogga Town handled 19.42 lakh passengers (6.87 lakh reserved and 12.54 lakh unreserved), earning Rs 26.01 crore.
Belagavi handled 19.18 lakh passengers (7.16 lakh reserved and 12.02 lakh unreserved), earning Rs 57.71 crore.
Arsikere handled 18.69 lakh passengers (2.68 lakh reserved and 16 lakh unreserved), earning Rs 21.20 crore.
Ballari handled 17.93 lakh passengers (4.31 lakh reserved and 13.61 lakh unreserved), earning Rs 31.65 crore.
Vijayapura handled 16.14 lakh passengers (3.08 lakh reserved and 13.05 lakh unreserved), earning Rs 27.63 crore.
Yadgir handled 15.14 lakh passengers (3.28 lakh reserved and 11.86 lakh unreserved), earning Rs 30.75 crore.
Yelahanka handled 14.40 lakh passengers (4.01 lakh reserved and 10.38 lakh unreserved), earning Rs 34.14 crore.
Hosapete handled 14.02 lakh passengers (3.91 lakh reserved and 10.10 lakh unreserved), earning Rs 27.94 crore.
Bidar handled 13.18 lakh passengers (3.11 lakh reserved and 10 lakh unreserved), earning Rs 27.23 crore.
Mangaluru Junction handled 12.25 lakh passengers (6.06 lakh reserved and 6.18 lakh unreserved), earning Rs 64.61 crore.
Dharwad handled 10.65 lakh passengers (4.10 lakh reserved and 6.54 lakh unreserved), earning Rs 27.27 crore.