BMRCL to link Metro with Yeshwantpur rly station

After passing the buck for long on who should take the responsibility of linking the Yeshwantpur railway station with the adjacent Metro station, the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) has finally agreed to provide amenities for passengers.

At the same time, the BMRCL has said the ball is in the railways’ court which has to give it permission for land use.

In reply to an RTI query, Namma Metro stated that the property between Yeshwantpur railway station and Yeshwantpur Metro station was initially claimed by the railways. But the High-Powered Committee (HPC), at its 18th meeting held recently, took up the matter and supported the BMRCL’s claim.

The BMRCL offered to share the cost of developing the facilities that include bus bay, parking lot and skywalk for safe passage of passengers from the railway station to the Metro station provided it gets the land. But even after many months, the railways has not responded to the request.

As a result, the BMRCL says, although it has the land, it still needs permission from the railways to use it. The BMRCL is pursuing the matter with the railways, the reply says.
Gave NOC, says railways

But the South Western Railway (SWR) maintains it has already issued a No Objection Certificate (NOC) to Namma Metro. Insiders say the contentious issue is the funds for the proposed amenities as the BMRCL wants the railways to share the costs while the latter says it cannot give money as it has given the land. Needless to say commuters are at the receiving end.

The Yeshwantpur railway station handles Bangalore’s second highest rail traffic of 90-100 trains every day with thousands of passengers moving in and out of the station.
While both the stations are close to each other, passengers alighting from trains at the railway station are hardly aware that the Metro station is a stone’s throw away as there is not even a single signboard to inform them.

The biggest inconvenience is the lack of connectivity between the two stations from either side.

Consequently, passengers with heavy luggage have to leave the railway station, cross the front yard and climb the stairs to catch a Metro train.