BENGALURU: Here’s good news for passengers travelling to and from Krantiveera Sangolli Rayanna Bengaluru City) ) railway station. The long-awaited foot overbridge (FOB) — connecting platform no. 10 with the City Railway Station Metro station on the Purple Line — will open in a month.“It may take a month tobe ready. BMRCL has deposited the pending money and we are going to restart the work, which was held up for want of payment,” RS Saxena, divisional railway manager (Bengaluru), told TOI.BMRCL managing director Ajay Seth said all issues pertaining to the FOB have been sorted out. The Rs 1.9-crore project, which is being executed by South Western Railway (SWR), was proposed in 2013 and missed multiple deadlines. The Metro station has been operational since 2016 and several passengers, including senior citizens and the differently abled, have to traverse the poorly lit, garbage-filled MG Railway Colony Road and climb 65 steps to reach platform no. 10 of the railway station. Platforms 1 to 10 are already connected.SWR officials said the finishing touches, lighting and flooring work are pending. The FOB, which was to be completed by 2016, was delayed mainly due to the poor coordination between SWR and BMRCL.“It’s difficult to climb these stairs with luggage. Ideally, they should have completed this FOB when this Metro station became operational. We hope they will open it without any further delay,” said Lekha S, a regular passenger at the city railway station.Another FOB connecting Kempegowda Interchange Metro station with BMTC and KSRTC bus terminals in Majestic was inaugurated by chief minister HD Kumaraswamy on October 4. This FOB, which was completed about five months ago, remained closed to the public as a ceremonial inauguration hadn’t been conducted. Every day 1.5-2 lakh people visit the city railway station.BMRCL is likely to install a travelator that connects the city railway Metro station on the Purple Line to the FOB connecting Bengaluru City railway station’s platform number 10. BMRCL sources say there is a proposal to install a travelator to help passengers switch between railway and Metro stations, particularly when many of them carry luggage. However, BMRCL managing director Ajay Seth said he is unaware about the travelator proposal. SWR will also set up a ticket counter near the intersection of the FOB. Currently, a counter is functioning on the MG Railway Colony Road, where passengers literally had to stand on the road to purchase tickets.

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