[ethanhunt123]

Originally Posted by vinaydas

A lot of cities across the world do not use the metro for airport commutes.

You need to change trains. Example in Stuttgart, the you need to take the metro (U Bahn) to the station housing the bigger trains (S Bahn) which go to the airport.
This might be easier on the passengers to the airport as they dont need to share the metro with daily commuters while carrying their 27 Liter suitcases.

Plus , you can connect this link to Mysore in the future. So a Guy staying in Mysore can reach BLR aiport in say 3 Hours.

Its not a solution for India for sure. In Stuttgart or for that matter any German city - changing trains is simple. Coordinated timings, elevators, clear directions - you can do it even with luggage simply.

Compare that with Bangalore - Arrive in Majestic Metro station and then you have to trek through the subway which is in a wonderful state. No way people are gonna use the airport line in any large numbers if this is the case - You can look at New Delhi Airport metro as a prime example.

[drivingme.crazy]

TRAFFIC ALERT

There was a major accident in ORR, near Salarpuria Softzone, towards Marathalli. An Etios liva rear ended an Ambulance. Both vehicles are heavily damaged and occupying 2 lanes. Expect heavy traffic if not cleared soon. Better check traffic before you leave. Hope the souls involved in accident are safe.

[silversteed]

Originally Posted by vinaydas

A lot of cities across the world do not use the metro for airport commutes.

You need to change trains. Example in Stuttgart, the you need to take the metro (U Bahn) to the station housing the bigger trains (S Bahn) which go to the airport.

A lot of cities do have the same trains connecting the airport and city. Chicago has the CTA doing just that - the airport metro heads to the loop and one can switch lines. In Stuttgart, the S-Bahn services the extended city/suburban areas and U-Bahn connects the more urban areas. The difference is thin though, because some U lines travel far into the suburbs (eg., the U9 & U15 lines). Moreover, the changeover from U to S is as simple as moving from one platform to another at the Main station.

Certainly not the case with Bangalore Majestic. Our "bigger trains" are not that great to travel with a lot of luggage, thanks to the seating arrangement. A metro coach would do far better than that.

[aroonanand]

Originally Posted by ethanhunt123

Its not a solution for India for sure. In Stuttgart or for that matter any German city - changing trains is simple. Coordinated timings, elevators, clear directions - you can do it even with luggage simply.

Compare that with Bangalore - Arrive in Majestic Metro station and then you have to trek through the subway which is in a wonderful state. No way people are gonna use the airport line in any large numbers if this is the case - You can look at New Delhi Airport metro as a prime example.

Originally Posted by silversteed

A lot of cities do have the same trains connecting the airport and city. Chicago has the CTA doing just that - the airport metro heads to the loop and one can switch lines. In Stuttgart, the S-Bahn services the extended city/suburban areas and U-Bahn connects the more urban areas. The difference is thin though, because some U lines travel far into the suburbs (eg., the U9 & U15 lines). Moreover, the changeover from U to S is as simple as moving from one platform to another at the Main station.

Certainly not the case with Bangalore Majestic. Our "bigger trains" are not that great to travel with a lot of luggage, thanks to the seating arrangement. A metro coach would do far better than that.

It's all got to do with planning, which our country lacks big time. As pointed out earlier, the Blr metro was built in last few years and still the planners did not deem it necessary to have a seamless interchange between the KSR station and Metro. More than anything, I think it is the taxi lobby in India that ensures that airports are not properly connected to mainstream trains/metro (Chennai and Delhi are exceptions, perhaps, with metro going all the way upto the airport). Last week, I was in Kochi and when I was speaking to the Ola driver on why the metro which runs till Aluva hasnt been extended to the airport, or why there are no feeder buses from airport to the metro station, his response was "we taxi drivers will ensure these dont happen" !!

Contrast this to most cities globally where there is a beautiful network of mainstream trains, metros, buses and trams so that airport goers have so many options depending on the luggage, time, budget etc. Paris, Amsterdam, Vienna, Berlin are other examples where long distance trains connect airports to the hub / main station from which one can jump onto metros / U-Bahns / trams seamlessly, with well connected transit points including escalators, lifts etc and one neednt lift the bags one bit.

[itwasntme]

Have a week's worth of C-suite business meetings down at Sarjapur Road and want to be there by 0900 (although meetings start at 0930). No option of being 'late'.

I stay in Yelahanka - which route should I take? Frankly have been supremely lucky not to have traveled to those areas (most Bangaloreans will be shaking their head at this :-) for at least 3 years now!

Google Uncle is showing a couple of routes, one being the normal one via ORR, KR Puram and the other branching off towards Sathanur/Baiyappanahalli etc coming in via Whitefield. Which one and why? Remember, I also need to factor in Manyata white-topping unless I take the back route via Jakkur.

Any advice will be highly appreciated!

[deadguy25]

Originally Posted by itwasntme

Have a week's worth of C-suite business meetings down at Sarjapur Road and want to be there by 0900 (although meetings start at 0930). No option of being 'late'.

I stay in Yelahanka - which route should I take? Frankly have been supremely lucky not to have traveled to those areas (most Bangaloreans will be shaking their head at this :-) for at least 3 years now! Google Uncle is showing a couple of routes, one being the normal one via ORR, KR Puram and the other branching off towards Sathanur/Baiyappanahalli etc coming in via Whitefield.

Which one and why? Remember, I also need to factor in Manyata white-topping unless I take the back route via Jakkur. Any advice will be highly appreciated!

Have you checked for trains? If trains are feasible for you, then there is a station - Carmellaram on the Sarjapur road.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by itwasntme

Have a week's worth of C-suite business meetings down at Sarjapur Road and want to be there by 0900 (although meetings start at 0930). Just cannot be late :-).

I stay in Yelahanka - which route should I take? Frankly have been supremely lucky not to have traveled to those areas (most Bangaloreans will be shaking their head at this :-) for at least 3 years now! Google Uncle is showing a couple of routes, one being the normal one via ORR, KR Puram and the other branching off towards Sathanur/Baiyappanahalli etc coming in via Whitefield.

Which one and why? Remember, I also need to factor in Manyata white-topping unless I take the back route via Jakkur. Any advice will be highly appreciated!

Let me help as I took the route to Sarjapur road (well almost) thrice from Yelahanka in the last one month trying to reach my intended destination at 0930/1030 and 0900am.

If you are talking the ORR, budget at least 2 hours for this and no less. Last 3 trips to Bellandur took me nearly 100 Minutes on an average.

Few tips:

• Start at 0730 even if you can reach there a bit early
  
• Traffic piles up right from Nagawara flyover due to white topping and taking Jakkur road helps
  
• No need to take the route behind Manyata but you can continue straight instead of turning right for Manyata at the railway parallel road and reach Thanisandra main road through this option (850 kms of this road is not asphalted but just has pebbles and mud. You can easily hit speeds of 60 KMPH on this 850 kms that you need to drive to reach Thanisandra road faster than take the narrow roads behind Manyata)
  
• Soon after you merge onto ORR at Nagawara (at the end of Thanisandra Road), you will start crawling or at times in 3rd gear till you reach below Hennur Underpass
  
• After this all the way till you reach KR Puram/Tin Factory will be smooth
  
• Just before you get down at KR Puram, traffic is well managed with lights for both the traffic from ORR and Old Madras road (so there is no crawl due to merging traffic)
  
• You may take 10 minutes to cross KR Puram and then you may start smiling that you have crossed a major hurdle
  
• But your party is over as soon as you are closer to Doddanekundi Flyover - From here, you can just crawl nearly till Bellandur (9 Kms and at least 60+ minutes)
  
• Traffic thins up only post Bellandur
  
• EDIT - Oh wait, I don't even know how traffic is once you get onto Sarjapur road :-)

With this, and my recent experiences, taking City route helps. Off late, after dropping my kid to school, I have continued bravely towards EC at 0800 and realised I can nearly manage this except the mayhem near St. Johns and Madiwala. So you may as well take the city route and reach here via Jakkasandra but remember not to take the Inner Ring road (massive jams at regular due to flyover work) and instead take Viveknagar or Adugodi option to reach Sonyworld.

Here is the section of the road that I was referring to:



Route link

[itwasntme]

Originally Posted by deadguy25

Have you checked for trains? If trains are feasible for you, then there is a station - Carmellaram on the Sarjapur road.

Haha, great suggestion but public transport not an option for me, sorry. I am the kind of chump who used to drive my precious Indica 2000 from Kandivali to Nariman Point and back in 2001 Mumbai traffic (without the many flyovers + Sea-Link).

Driving is a MUST!

[binand]

Originally Posted by itwasntme

Have a week's worth of C-suite business meetings down at Sarjapur Road and want to be there by 0900 (although meetings start at 0930). No option of being 'late'.

You might want to consider taking up a hotel room for the week close to your meetings location. That's probably the best way of ensuring you are never late.

[Rajeevraj]

Originally Posted by itwasntme

Have a week's worth of C-suite business meetings down at Sarjapur Road and want to be there by 0900 (although meetings start at 0930). No option of being 'late'.

Any advice will be highly appreciated!

Originally Posted by paragsachania

Let me help as I took the route to Sarjapur road (well almost) thrice from Yelahanka in the last one month trying to reach my intended destination at 0930/1030 and 0900am.

If you are talking the ORR, budget at least 2 hours for this and no less. Last 3 trips to Bellandur took me nearly 100 Minutes on an average.
[*]EDIT - Oh wait, I don't even know how traffic is once you get onto Sarjapur road :-)[/list]

If you do not mind sharing, where in Sarjapur Road are you headed to?

As Parag said, budget 2 hours to cross Bellandur. Sarjapur Road is also messy especially now with a lot of drain work and sewage pipeline work in progress in several stretches. Would budget 20-30 min to travel till Wipro on Sarjapur Road from ORR.

Overall it is a pretty unpredictable journey. Would suggest to leave by 6.30 am on the first day and then adjust accordingly if needed. Expect Sarjapur Road to be worse in the evenings especially after 5pm.

Originally Posted by binand

You might want to consider taking up a hotel room for the week close to your meetings location. That's probably the best way of ensuring you are never late.

This is a good idea.

[DRIVE_ADDICT]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

[*]EDIT - Oh wait, I don't even know how traffic is once you get onto Sarjapur road :-)[/list]

The current state of Sarjapur road is worst. Right from Columbia Asia hospital junction, passing Wipro gate till Carmelaram junction. Peak hours traffic movements are snail pace. Thanks to BBMP for digging both sides of the road and im sure they wont mind to fix this road back for months or even a year to come.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by binand

You might want to consider taking up a hotel room for the week close to your meetings location.

This is something folks at my current workplace used to suggest me whenever we had scheduled training that would start at 0830am. I would honestly be delighted because I normally reach my workplace by 0715am and can respond to any late night mails and close my laptop while others frantically would open their PCs and Phones to reply emails during the breaks. Alas, Electronics City is so predictable and there is a nice and NICE option to escape.

Originally Posted by Rajeevraj

Sarjapur Road is also messy especially now with a lot of drain work and sewage pipeline work in progress in several stretches. Would budget 20-30 min to travel till Wipro on Sarjapur Road from ORR.

Originally Posted by DRIVE_ADDICT

The current state of Sarjapur road is worst. Right from Columbia Asia hospital junction, passing Wipro gate till Carmelaram junction. Peak hours traffic movements are snail pace. Thanks to BBMP for digging both sides of the road and im sure they wont mind to fix this road back for months or even a year to come.

There you go folks! I was careful not to assume about a particular road that I haven't driven recently and chose to remain silent and no wonder your replies didn't surprise me.

It simply means 2.5-3 Hours for this journey that may never see getting better in years to come, if done by road.

[am1m]

The hotel suggestion was on my mind too! But then I thought it might seem silly to suggest an overnight stay for a commute of about, what, 35km each way? (Yelahanka-Sarjapur)

But looks like Bangalore traffic warrants that these days! Amazing times!

[hserus]

Originally Posted by am1m

The hotel suggestion was on my mind too! But then I thought it might seem silly to suggest an overnight stay for a commute of about, what, 35km each way? (Yelahanka-Sarjapur)

But looks like Bangalore traffic warrants that these days! Amazing times!

Sarjapur has this -

https://www.marriott.com/hotels/trav...business-park/

https://www.accorhotels.com/gb/hotel...ad/index.shtml

If any of these, or actually, any random hotel, is within a km of your meetings, book it blindly. It just isn't worth the time and trouble to commute for any further distance in that area.

[Chetan_Rao]

I've never commuted on Sarjapur Road on a weekday, but given the nightmare it is on weekends traveling to & from the cricket fields in that area (esp. the return ride/drive post-game), I wouldn't wish a commute in peak traffic on my worst enemy.

Getting accommodation next-door is the best option if you want to stay productive.