Bengaluru: Make good use of Goods Shed satellite station, demand Whitefield residents

Bengaluru: Construction of Hoody railway halt station is proceeding at a snail’s pace. Residents of Whitefield have been demanding that the railways and government representatives develop the Goods Shed satellite station which is situated between Hoody and Whitefield railway station so that much of ITPL traffic can be diverted. And now that the metro is running full-throttle on the east-west line until Byappanahalli and commuters are already taking regular trains, upgrading this station will be a big boost to commuters.

Currently, Goods Shed is a satellite station which caters only to Container Corporation of India (CONCOR). This can easily become a main station and be a boost to those commuting to and from Whitefield to beat the road traffic and reach their work place in limited time.

Zibi Jamal from Whitefield Rising says, “We had presented our demands to transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy. We have requested the minister to transform it into a real station. In fact, many passengers do take trains until here as few trains stop unofficially here. We also want all express trains to stop here and at KR Puram railway station. We have asked him to increase MEMU and DEMU services which can be easily done. If they can add some ladies’ and first class coaches, it will be a blessing for many commuters. In fact, Mr Reddy has agreed to have a meeting with SWR and others to get this moving soon.”

In the demand list presented by Whitefield Rising to government, the development of Goods Shed satellite station was at the top. Three stations namely Hoody, Goods Shed and Whitefield are adjacent to each other and if developed properly, these three can become a good base for suburban rail and also take a huge load off the road.

Sanjeev V Dyamannavar from Praja RAAG, an advocacy group which has been fighting for suburban rail for over 10 years, says, “This is 2 km away from the upcoming Hoody Station. And it is opposite ITPL and 500 meters away from Whitefield Main Road. This will help ITPL and its surrounding areas. On one side you have Sadarmangala and other developing village areas and on the other side is Whitefield. In 2014, railways Bangalore division in their of suburban rail report, have suggested to the state government to make this an official halt station. Also people coming from Bangarpet and other areas who have their residences near ITPL can get down here, so we want all express trains to have stops here.”

Currently, the satellite station has a capacity to hold six coaches. So the authorities need to extend the platform to accommodate 12-15 coaches. Then there is a need of a ticket counter, a small platform shelter and a Foot Over Bridge (FOB).

Station currently caters only to CONCOR

• Citizens demand that all express trains have stops at Good Shed and KR Puram railway station
• Special coaches for women
• More MEMU and DEMu services should be diverted towards this station

Demand to expedite Hoody halt station
The work of upgrading Hoody station is inching ahead very slowly and
commuters are not a happy lot. MP PC Mohan initiated funding the development of the station way back in November 2014 after Deccan Chronicle reported how so many commuters are using the station despite lack of platform and other things. Then in mid-2015 the funds were released. The actual commencement of the work began in February 2016 and still continues.