[Rajeevraj]

Originally Posted by ampere

Very nice to see you using the rail network. Would be glad to see more and more on this.

I think a parallel commute base who regularly use the trains has built up. When I got into the train there were several large groups who all knew each other. Reminded me of the college train commute days when you pretty much knew everyone else around you.

Few folks even looked at me with the look- 'Have not seen you before in this train'

[ajmat]

Originally Posted by itwasntme

Really feel for daily commuters in this entire area. 2 months!

https://www.deccanherald.com/city/be...ts-782366.html

One member of my new team is having big problems, 90 min to commute from Electronic City to town due to this.

I would have faced this if I had to commute to Sarjapur unless I commute via Marathahalli (frying pan into the fire). Alas, sadly I will not have to! My new place of work is a 20 min walk on a nice TenderSURE pavement. Driving would take the same time and I would need to pay Rs 3000 monthly for parking for my 1km commute.

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by ajmat

One member of my new team is having big problems, 90 min to commute from Electronic City to town due to this.

I would have faced this if I had to commute to Sarjapur unless I commute via Marathahalli (frying pan into the fire). Alas, sadly I will not have to! My new place of work is a 20 min walk on a nice TenderSURE pavement. Driving would take the same time and I would need to pay Rs 3000 monthly for parking for my 1km commute.

You my friend, are a part of the privileged few - the “gentry”, and therefore, very far removed from us common daily wage slaves / lab-rats, imprisoned inside the treadmill of the daily commute.

I am dreading the effect of this ‘white topping” on my HSR-Koramangala morning and evening commutes, when I resume office next week after my short break.

Right now I am lurking at home and spending time amongst my books and therefore, have zero visibility into whats happening on the roads during peak hours.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by Rajeevraj

Since I have easy access to a railway station off Sarjapur Road, I try to use the skeletal train network whenever there is a possibility to do so.

This is a very good alternative that most are unaware of and end up crawling on the ORR spending hours together.

I know of a friend's spouse who boards a train at Bangalore Cantonment, and then alights at Carmelaram station and makes use of the share auto to reach her office at Ecoworld campus.

I have another close relative of mine who stays behind Cisco Campus (Panathur) whose parents board a train from Carmelaram and then alight at Hebbal and then take a BMTC bus or a cab to reach our home at Yelahanka. There are few direct trains to Yelahanka (2 Km from my place) as well but depends on the timings.

If one is aware of the train timings and frequencies, I think for the commute on ORR from Hebbal all the way to Hosur is best done by rail over roads. Needless to say, this backbone has to made stronger by introducing more trains to help regular commuters.

[Rajeevraj]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

I have another close relative of mine who stays behind Cisco Campus (Panathur) whose parents board a train from Carmelaram and then alight at Hebbal and then take a BMTC bus or a cab to reach our home at Yelahanka. There are few direct trains to Yelahanka (2 Km from my place) as well but depends on the timings.

I also have done this when I have had a need to go to RT Nagar areas. Take train to Hebbal. Railways had started additional services between Hosur and byapanahalli which was super convenient as it gave direct access to the metro network. They have indefinitely cancelled it.

On a side note. For your relatives, from panathur, Bellandur station would be much closer unless you have to take an express train( which is unlikely as they don't stop in Hebbal).

Maybe we need a dedicated Bangalore suburban trains thread to increase awareness and atleast folks whose location makes it feasible and can work around the timings can leverage it.

[sachinpk]

Originally Posted by itwasntme

Really feel for daily commuters in this entire area. 2 months!

I don't think the work would get complete in 2 months. Such planning & execution does NOT happen any where in Bangalore. My understanding is that two months is for one carriage way .

Originally Posted by ajmat

One member of my new team is having big problems, 90 min to commute from Electronic City to town due to this.

For this is the next level above my Whitefield days. Today it took me 2 hours to commute a distance of 22kms. And around 1 hr 10 mins was only spent to move from St.John's Jn/Madivala check post to Bannerghatta road (a distance of less than 5km). The route suggested by Traffic Police - i.e via Adugodi, and then on the roads near Mico Bosch to reach Bannerghatta Rd would also be already clogged. I am foreseeing lots of problems (or "challenges"; the IT jargon). More requests for "work from home", unplanned sick leaves and general leaves are now going to increase. I don't know how the IT Majors/Colonels/Brigadiers are going to handle this.

Originally Posted by Rajeevraj

I think a parallel commute base who regularly use the trains has built up. When I got into the train there were several large groups who all knew each other. Reminded me of the college train commute days when you pretty much knew everyone else around you.

This group was already in place at least 5 years back . I was working out of EC at that time, and every evening at around 5PM a BMTC bus departed towards Heelalige station. I used to use that to commute to Chandapura, and as you said people gave strange looks when a new person joined. 99% of the travellers in this bus was to board the DEMU coming in from Hosur side at around 1800Hrs. This group was well connected, they had a WhatsApp/Chat group even then. The driver & conductor were also familiar with all of them. And from what I understand they also had similar groups who came from Hosur side, who would update the train position very accurately.

When I worked out of Whitefield a colleague did his daily commute with a DEMU/MEMU & Namma Metro combination. For the DEMU/MEMU (between SBC and BWT) there were groups of travellers and WhatsApp groups for regular updates. May be Namma Metro users may not have such big groups as trains run more frequently and commuters seems to be more "individualistic".

Any ways for me looks like the commute by train would remain a distant dream (or unless I move to a different country). May be by the time I finalise my retirement plans, the Bangalore suburban+Namma Metro system would be completely operational. My XYL used to commute by these passengers train when she was posted in Kerala, and even today she calls that the best time period in her career. She made good friends, and the 1.5 hr journey was more like a party time (especially in the evenings). They celebrated wedding plans, promotions and even had a farewell party when she was posted to Karnataka. The whole thing had a charm of a real slow moving world, which today I can only dream off.

Originally Posted by Rajeevraj

Since I have easy access to a railway station off Sarjapur Road, I try to use the skeletal train network whenever there is a possibility to do so.

Originally Posted by paragsachania

I know of a friend's spouse who boards a train at Bangalore Cantonment, and then alights at Carmelaram station and makes use of the share auto to reach her office at Ecoworld campus.

As Lt.Gen Horrocks in "A Bridge Too Far" says - "time is the vital factor". If people have the luxury on deciding the commuting start and end times, and there is rail connectivity then trains are the best way out. Any ways looks like at least on the Bayyappanahalli-Hosur stretch railways is hell bent on making some changes. Electrification is going on at full swing. They have already put up the power lines, and today I also saw transformers placed at certain locations. The rumour is that by March 2020 electrification of this section would be complete.

[itwasntme]

Originally Posted by ajmat

One member of my new team is having big problems, 90 min to commute from Electronic City to town due to this.

My workplace is in the CBD and 2 of my team members are similarly struggling big time from Sarjapur Road & Arekere respectively. The latter fellow is spending 2 hours in the morning and 2.5+ hours in the evening.

We have a flexitime system spanning 0700 to 2000 with core hours between 1000 to 1600. That helps of course except that Bannerghatta Road is also choked at 0600 .

[audioholic]

Originally Posted by sachinpk

When I worked out of Whitefield a colleague did his daily commute with a DEMU/MEMU & Namma Metro combination. For the DEMU/MEMU (between SBC and BWT) there were groups of travellers and WhatsApp groups for regular updates.

There are many telegram groups out of which I am a member of one. It has more than 3500 members and growing. That itself shows what kind of an alternate mode of transport it is. For me, after more than two years of driving daily between Banashankari and Whitefield, I slowly switched to trains and now with Bounce being another boon to me, I have almost stopped driving to work. Getting from Hoodi to Baiyyapanahalli in less than 15 minutes was impossible even on my Ninja, but it is with the train. After this, another 40 minutes in Metro will get me close to my house. This at a small cost compared to burning fuel. And this commute time is fixed irrespective of the time of the day or traffic conditions.

[shankar.balan]

Incidentally I had a review with the Doc today next to UB City.

I left home by Uber premier at 0945 this morning. Reached there at 1105. There was severe traffic chaos in HSR, Agara, Jakkasandra, Koramangala and then again up until Adugodi. From the Hosur Road historical cemetery onwards it was fine and easy.

Finished with the various tests and Doc discussion etc by 1245, took an Uber Premier at 1300hrs and returned home to HSR. I was at home at 1338. Superb run on the return journey.

As long as you can get a clean and nice Uber/ Ola, smack on your AirPods or Earphones or Headphones or Bose Frames Sunglasses or whatever you may have and just press the play button on your phone’s music library and just chill with your eyes wide shut, you’ll be ok.

It’s only when you attempt to drive your car on your commute, that you get into serious “curse” mode.

So it is probably better for stress level management and mental and physical health, to use this kind of alternate transport, and keep your much loved car for use and enjoyment on the weekends or for longer distances.

[Rajeevraj]

Originally Posted by itwasntme

My workplace is in the CBD and 2 of my team members are similarly struggling big time from Sarjapur Road & Arekere respectively. The latter fellow is spending 2 hours in the morning and 2.5+ hours in the evening.

We have a flexitime system spanning 0700 to 2000 with core hours between 1000 to 1600. That helps of course except that Bannerghatta Road is also choked at 0600 .

The Sarjapur Road guy can definitely try to leverage trains occasionally. Depending on where in Sarjapur road he is, Carmelaram should not be too far. A morning 7.30 train can get him to byapanahalli in 15 min and then he can take metro to CBD, or continue in train to cantonement. Of course depends on the last mile connect needed on both sides. Worth a try.

Originally Posted by audioholic

There are many telegram groups out of which I am a member of one. It has more than 3500 members and growing. .

Am part of the Hosur Bangalore telegram group and it is close to 7500 members now. Updates keep flowing in and helps time the journeys to the last minute.

Originally Posted by sachinpk

Any ways looks like at least on the Bayyappanahalli-Hosur stretch railways is hell bent on making some changes. Electrification is going on at full swing. They have already put up the power lines, and today I also saw transformers placed at certain locations. The rumour is that by March 2020 electrification of this section would be complete.

There was a notification in the paper that charging of lines will begin any day after November 30th and public are hereby notified etc.. So hopefully should get operational soon.

[KL01toKA03]

I had to go to drop someone at Shantinagar bus stand yesterday. I was shocked to see that the multi-level parking at the bus stand is not open. The people who were blocking the entrance said that the previous contract for running the parking setup had expired, and a new contract has not yet been signed. They asked me to park at JC road instead. I found a vacant spot on the roadside nearby, and spent a few anxious moments till the bus arrived.

I find it remarkably lazy that they haven't renewed the contract on time, or handed it over to someone else. Even if they couldn't do that, why were they not opening the premises for free parking till they agreed on a contract?

[sairamboko]

Originally Posted by Rajeevraj

Am part of the Hosur Bangalore telegram group and it is close to 7500 members now. Updates keep flowing in and helps time the journeys to the last minute.

I live 3kms from Hosur railway station. Only the electric poles are erected so far from outer of Hosur station till Hosur station. I think it will be a month more for works to be completed in Hosur station.

[Acharya]

Does anyone know what happened on ORR today, I am stuck between Manyata and Kalyan Nagar for last 100 minutes. Traffic is just not moving.

[KiloAlpha]

Traffic Alert.

The one-way gyratory system around Madiwala is back. Traffic coming from Adugodi and from Dairy Circle (after negotiating the diversions due to white-topping) and heading towards Silk Board are now forced to go into Sarjapur Road at St. Johns' junction and turn right at Madiwala Market road. Sarjapur Road is one-way, as is Madiwala Market Road. Hosur Road through Madiwala is also a one-way from Police Station junction up to St. Johns'.

It was chaos this morning, and the ever helpful Bangalore Traffic Police were doing their bit as well!

[NPV]

Saturday night at 10:30pm, just beyond Horamavu junction on the ORR there was standstill traffic for 10 minutes or so and then it started moving slowly. Turned out to be due to the blocked lane going into the Ramamurthynagar underpass (ongoing white topping work). Problem is, traffic exits the blocked lane and merges onto the other lanes just after the blind, almost 90 degree turn as one approaches the underpass.

Also, there is white topping work in progress on the Banaswadi main road which has a ripple effect at the Horamavu junction (on top of the underpass) and since the traffic lights are switched off and not manned by cops, it's a free-for-all situation. For my onward journey, it took about 15 minutes to clear before I could turn left onto Banaswadi road (100 feet road).

If you're heading towards Banaswadi main road, for now it's better to turn off to left at Ramamurthynagar towards Doddabanaswadi and then turn right near the Makkuntamma temple (avoids the last narrow stretch near the Hanuman temple junction) to join Banaswadi main road again.