Count me in. Hopefully I should be able dial in/Skype call.

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Moving this meeting to Saturday 21st April so more people can attend. We will meet in Freedom park @ 8AM those who stay back after the meeting can go for breakfast nearby. Looking forward to meet more people. I will post an event so you can all confirm your presence

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Contrary to rumblings about the Railways not being too keen on the Commuter Rail Service project, railway officials say they had agreed early on running the trains to some destinations, provided the State government was willing to supply the rakes.

...

“There is no question that a city like Bangalore does need the commuter rail in addition to other mass rapid transit systems. But the focus of the Railways is on long-distance trains, so it will take the efforts of the State government and keep up the pressure,” Sitharam says.

 http://www.deccanherald.com/content/222839/railways-had-agreed-run-trains.html    

        Finally Draft report getting submitted by RiTES,  lets see what propsals will the RiTES make it and how  GoK and SWR agrees on the modalities.

Now Chief Minister of Karnataka should allocate minimum 100 crore for the Commuter rail project to kick start so that Center Indian Railway also comes forward immediately. 

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Commuter rail system, proposed in the Railway Budget 2011, may not be a reality soon due to the sluggish moves of the implementing agencies

Commuter Rail System (CRS) should have been implemented in Bangalore before any other mode of mass transport.

While much emphasis is being laid on new age Metro lines and a rather superfluous High Speed Rail Link (HSRL), none of these will help in further development of the City, as it cannot transport labour force or goods from peripheral areas outside Bangalore.
 

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/222843/waiting-train.html

Finally Commuter Rail is taking shape on strong foot. After RiTES report in feb,  CM of Karnataka should allocate funds for this project in the state budget and he should leead all 7 MPs from Bangalore to Railway  Minister & PM to sanction the project to solve to large extent the traffic problems of Bangalore & its surrounding.

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The new layouts could have planned with provision for CRS. Bangalore has been starting many new layouts for a long time, but none I believe had provison for railways. In fact, the new layouts have the least access to railways. This shows Bangalore is not very fond of rail.

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Sunday service

The sources also said that there was demand for passenger train service on Sundays, especially to Tumkur, Mysore and from Kolar. At present, passenger train services are not being operated on Sundays.

A proposal has been made to the Railway Ministry to operate all passenger trains between Bangalore and Tumkur, Mysore and Hindupur, and one way from Kolar to Bangalore on Sundays.

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-karnataka/article2846207.ece

Its good that now SWR authorities are realising that public are using the existing shuttel services between Bangarpet, Tumkur, Mysore to Bangalore which are really helping the commuters on working days, they were not run on sundays.

With demand increasing,  and now Nelamangala line also getting opened by March'2012,  Commuter Rail should get into the momentum on ground with RITES going to submit the draft  report in Feb'2012 and followed by Presentation.

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Just realized, the 2015 BDA revised master plan also calls for commuter rail as one of the transportation systems in their vision document.

Page 42, Section 5(x), transportation section of the RMP 2015 vision document "Development of the commuter railway systems" says

The CRS project comprises of the commuter railway project providing connectivity on existing surface railway lines in Bangalore with the proposed metro rail project...

Page 22, Section 1, "Growth Scenario" foot note says

The Commuter Railway System (CRS), which consists of utilizing the present railway lines for urban transportation should be developed beyond the present urban area to connect to the new urbanization areas in the distant periphery

What is Muniyapa smoking?

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The State has also requested for commuter rail service for the City. 

Claiming that the traffic data fully justified the need of commuter rail, the State has suggested either laying of new lines or using the existing ones if the Railways could spare corridors available on a long-term basis. 

This would help people disperse to outer areas of the City like Anekal, Malur, Devanahalli, Tumkur, Nelamangala and Bidadi.

source

Chief minister DV SadanandaGowda has made a strong plea to the Centre to implement Commuter Rail System (CRS) for the Bangaloremetropolitan region to improve suburban commuting services in the city.

Gowda has written a letter to Union railway minister Dinesh Trivedi, recalling the discussions he had with Trivedi during the latter’s visit toBangalore to inaugurate the Metro’s services.

“The data relating to the metropolitan region of Bangalore justifies starting of commuter rail.

The ministry of railways is requested to announce starting of commuter rail in the railway budget 2012-13,” he said.

Source

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At least this CM is pushing things - lets see what the outcome is.

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Finally politicans are making some efforts on commuter rail and  looking forward in the coming railway budget.

Already RITES has made filed  visits and interacted with SWR Bangalore division on the commuter rail. Also they have interacted with other nodal agencies and CiSTUP regarding the Commuter rail.  Most  probabaly  by end of Feb'2012, Draft report expected to be submitted to DULT. Finaly report after that.

Now MoS K H Muniyyappa and other central minister should ensure that commuter rail is sanctioned in the Railway Budget.

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On Page : 6    B. Civil Society Engagement

Any robust institutional framework should allow and encourage citizen/stakeholder participation in project planning. Bangalore boasts of a vibrant civil society engagement specifically in the arena of urban transportation. Examples of this include:

1. Praja promoting the commuter rail [23]

2. Ride a Cycle Foundation promoting cycling and other forms of non-motorized transportation

http://sinfras.com/conferences/nginfra2011/files/2011/12/Institutio%E2%80%8Bnal-analysis-of-urban-transporta%E2%80%8Btion-in-Bangalore.pdf

How Civil Society Engagement is getting shape in Bangalore brought out for city urban transport

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More excerpts from the report :

Lack of inter-agency coordination - Only recently, when the DULT head was of a similar rank or above, did all agency heads send their personnel. In addition, though it should coordinate projects, it has no funding carrots or regulatory sticks to wield in this effort.

Although DULT and BMLTA do not have the legislative approval to conduct the business for which that they were established.....have regular interactions with different civil society /stakeholder groups....This apparently small step of coordination and communication represents a huge leap forward for transport policy within Bangalore.

groups mentioned above have petitioned various levels of government for the creation of a comprehensive transportation plan for Bangalore. However limited the opportunity might have been...In many cases, they themselves have come up with alternative and less invasive transportation solutions.

It is only recently that city and state level governments have started taking note of these groups and listening to them. The dominant official paradigm, however, still is one where decisions are taken in an authoritarian manner without any consultations whatsoever. That culture needs to change.

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I am Ready for the Meet....... I ll post in Sky Scraper City and IR fanclub page on FB and SR discussin board and hope to get More Members.... Please confirm venue and timing.......

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We have long discussed about CRS but again this budget has said nothing about the same for Bangalore

Enough is enough-we have some passenger trains running in and around Bangalore-based on them just created some connection chains that could provide a CRS

The following points have been considered in making the chains

1. Direct tickets can be issued between the stations making travel cheaper

2. majority are passenger trains whose correct arrival is required for counterpart to depart(Rake share arrangements)-some arrangements are based on such rake share arrangements where delay in arrival will not mandate-even otherwise owing to slack time delay in arrival will not be much 

The following are some of the chains that I felt could be useful for Bangalore(Please not that some chains have taken the start and end fo the connecting trains-please view it from requirement for Bangalore local needs only)

The following is a sample for same-comments awaited for same 

1. Whitefield-Yelahanka connection-actually its morning connection and am looking for a suitable one in evening too
http://indiarailinfo.com/chain/5438/993/1003

the return connection for same
http://indiarailinfo.com/chain/5439/1003/993

2. Tumkur-Ramnagar connection via bangalore-mostly for travel within bangalore rather than end to end
http://indiarailinfo.com/chain/5429/281/1437

the return connection for same
http://indiarailinfo.com/chain/5432/1436/4614

3. Kengeri-Whitefield Connection
http://indiarailinfo.com/chain/1196/1437/993

4. Kengeri-whitefield connection 2(By Mr. Ashok)
http://indiarailinfo.com/chain/320/1437/993

5. Kengeri-Whitefield connection 3(The alternative for connection 1)
http://indiarailinfo.com/chain/1196/1437/993
Return connection for above

1. http://indiarailinfo.com/chain/5435/993/1438
2. http://indiarailinfo.com/chain/5431/993/1438(Express connection)
3. http://indiarailinfo.com/chain/5433/993/1438
4. http://indiarailinfo.com/chain/815/993/1438 (Late night connection useful if you have kpt your vehicle at one of the stations like KGI/BID in the morning

6. http://indiarailinfo.com/chain/191/281/4633-Tumkur-whitefield chain

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Let us meet and discuss the future course of action

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Shall we take the initiative and approach the news papers and some news channels? May be we can go to their offices directly and explain to them seriously what this is all about. I'm sure they'll understand and help us. It is now or never. We'll try whatever is possible from our side.

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What say allinterested people meet on 14th Saturday morning at freedom park to chalk out the next course of action?

To be fair the press has covered us to a certain extent, but dont track this as keenly as the other projects where every meeting is reported

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I am Ready for the meet Idontspam...lets meet and discuss the future course of action...please confirm the meeting..

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CRS has not come because there is no demand, that is demand from the people. If there was demand, it will be an item in the election manifestos.  There are also no protests. The latest significant protests were by lawyers and by truck owners (to allow them to overload i suppose). Maybe Bangalore does not like protests, it works in some other way. There is more than enough investment for car owners, but less than sufficient for pedestrians and public transport.

Metro came because it is a label missing for international city. When i think of Metro, its objectives are reduced car use, pollution etc.  The railway does not factor any of those. They consider profits lately.

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