Narrow flyover will choke access to Visvesvaraya Rly station

Maqsood Maniyar | NT
Bengaluru

The newly-opened “airport like” M Visvesvaraya Railway Terminal may offer amenities unthinkable at other railway stations, but the road access to this terminal could be a challenge once it starts catering to more number of trains.

The nearby Baiyappanahalli flyover, which provides the vital access to the station for passengers coming from Indiranagar, Halasuru and adjoining areas, is too narrow.

The terminal, built at a cost of Rs 314 crore, currently caters to four trains - Ernakulam tri-weekly Express, Kochuveli bi-weekly, Humsafar Express and the Patna weekly Humsafar Express. In a fortnight, six more trains, which are currently plying from Yesvantpur and Cantonment railway stations, will start operating from Visvesvaraya terminal.This is expected to increase the traffic volumes and this two-lane flyover will be highly inadequate.

‘Issue flagged’

A senior officer involved in the flyover project, said that he acknowledged that the flyover might be narrow and the issue had been taken up to higher authorities. “I think the issue has been flagged to the higher-ups. The Infrastructure Development Department is also looking into that factor. Earlier also we had given a proposal as to what would be the best way to ease the traffic around the Byappannahalli terminal. It is in the feasibility and verification stage,” he said.

He added that he didn’t know what shape an alternative path to the new station would take, but defended the infrastructure in the area, citing better connectivity. “We have already provided connectivity and made the road using the railway land,” he said. “From Old Madras Road, we have given connectivity (to the M Visvesvaraya Railway Terminal), but that cannot sustain for a longer period,” he added.

Gridlocks inevitable

Suresh, an auto driver based in Byappanahalli, said “The flyover width should have been more. If one vehicle stops in the middle of the road due to some issue, it’ll clog the flyover and lead to major problems. The flyover is already busy, but once the new railway station starts drawing in more trains and passengers, they’ll have to take this flyover and it’ll be a major problem,” he said.

Ganesh, who lives in the area, said: “It’s not a big problem now, but it’ll be an issue once the railway station sees more trains. More people come to the station and flyover may become busier.”

Javed, a two-wheeler rider, said that the fly-over wasn’t ideal for four wheelers. “It’s a very small fly-over. It’s okay for two-wheelers, but multiple heavy vehicles might be too much for it. Once the new railway station starts seeing more trains, passengers coming from Indira Nagar and Halasuru will find it difficult to cross this flyover,” he said.