Bengaluru: Hurdles ahead for Metro at Cantonment station?

Bengaluru: Namma Metro Phase-1, which is still not open to the public, was delayed by among other things,  a dispute between the railways and the BMRCL over construction of the underground line at Majestic. Transport experts are worried a similar dispute could be in the offing on the  upcoming Gottigere-Nagawara line where the railways and Metro intersect at Cantonment Railway station.

“The South Western Railway has already called for tenders to provide world class facilities over two acres around Cantonment station. So where is the Metro going to fit its station here?" asks Mr Sanjeev Dyamnavar, a transport expert from Praaja RAAG.

Although he  has written to the BMRCL and government asking for a detailed plan of integration between the two modes of transport, he says he has received no reply.

“What is the use of a DPR if it does not show where the station is or where the land is going to come from? For the Metro to go under the railway line carrying heavy traffic of long distance trains, it needs clearance  from the railways," he points out, recalling that Phase-1  was  delayed by  a year as the two departments fought in the Majestic area. When contacted, a BMRCL official said nothing had been decided but it was planned  to use the parking space of the Cantonment Railway station as the Metro concourse in the past. “But as  the railways have made it a parking lot,  we are not sure what will be done," he added. DRM Saxena of the SWR Bengaluru Division said  BMRCL officials had not met him to  discuss the intersection. “Things are fluid at the moment," he added.