Bengaluru: Citizens for Bengaluru (CfB) has called for a #ModaluTrainBeku Rail Yatra on Friday to press for suburban train services in Bengaluru.
It believes the main reason for traffic congestion in Bengaluru was due to lack of an effective mass public transport system.
#ModaluTrainBeku is a continuation of its earlier campaign #ChukuBukuBeku in 2016, to focus on the underutilized train network in our city.
Suburban trains in Bengaluru has been a long pending demand and despite announcements in various rail budgets allocating funds it has largely remained in paper.
With its forthcoming campaign #ModaluTrainBeku CfB hopes to bring much-needed attention to the potential of suburban trains in solving the road traffic problems plaguing the city.
Activist Tara Krishnaswamy said, “We believe that our government must first prioritise public transport. The Outer Ring Road/Sarjapur area is home to world's largest software and hardware companies and is the pride of Namma Bengaluru. However, this area is also notorious for long-drawn traffic gridlocks, which leads to severe loss of productivity, and high pollution levels.”
The activists have arranged this unique rail yatra, to bring the sights and sounds of trains to the 1.2 crore Bengalureans who are largely unaware of its existence, especially with respect to inter-city travel.
“It is quite common for employees to take more than 30 minutes to just get out of their own offices onto the Outer Ring Road. The railway line between Yeswantpur and Hosur passes along this corridor with stations at Bellandur Road, Karmela Ram and Heelalige. These stations are underdeveloped and hence a golden opportunity is being wasted. A survey is currently underway to understand the requirements and usage patterns of train commuters. We have requested all the employees working in various companies located on the Outer Ring Road (ORR) to join hands with this campaign,” Tara added.
