Traffic congestion on the Outer Ring Road in Bengaluru

BENGALURU: Outer Ring Road commuters, particularly techies, are reeling under a double whammy: traffic bottlenecks fast becoming a daily affair and delay in resuming two pairs of suspended trains.

The Diesel Electric Multiple Unit (Demu) trains: 06571/06572 Banaswadi-Hosur-Banaswadi and 06573/06574 Banaswadi-Hosur-Banaswadi were suspended from May 4 to August 29 citing yard remodeling work at Byappanahalli. South Western Railway extended the suspension till September 28.

These trains,introduced in March 2018 just before the assembly elections, were suspended between May 26, 2018 and December 16, 2018 for track renewal work between Byappanahalli and Hosur (48km).

Sources say SWR is not keen on operating them due to poor patronage, but commuters blame train timings for it. Commuters, especially techies working in Bellandur, Electronics City and Sarjapur, want them back with timings changed to suit their office hours.

Twitter handle @HsraSbc, which represents Hosur-Bengaluru passengers, says these trains can be operated between Banaswadi and Hosur on an alternative route through Bellandur Road till yard remodeling is completed.

Ashok Kumar Verma, Bengaluru divisional railway manager, said, "It's not feasible to operate these trains on an alternative route."

Amogha Betageri tweeted: "People have been requesting restart of 06571-74 trains at a different time. 9am instead of 9.50am for 06571 and 4pm instead of 3.15pm for 06574. Please consider!! (sic)"

Vijay R, a regular passenger, said: "These trains reduced the travel time on the congested ORR from 150 minutes to 30 minutes but it has been cancelled indiscriminately since inception."

Usha Sagara, a passenger, said: "Many people especially from South Bengaluru used this train. They take it to and from Bellandur and Carmelaram. This train was popular but they are cancelling the train for one or the other reason."

