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Hustle bustle of north in the south
You can hear the name, in bus stops and
signals uttered on the lips of new comer
anxious to find their place in the city
“Majestic hoguttaa?” They joined the league
of millions of people who in the last few
decades would walk the erstwhile wetland
which connected the city to railway station.
First it was known as Bangalore city railway
station but later it was officially declared as
KSR (Krantiveera Sangolli Rayanna)
railway station. It is located across the
Kempegowda Bus Station. The station has
ten platforms with two entrances.
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Kempegowda Interchange Metro Station is
also nearby KSR. Since all these three
stations are situated in majestic, it is called
the heart of Bengaluru.
Departing and Arriving
As soon as you step into the crowded
railway station, many trains will be
departing and arriving from different parts
of India. Until the train arrives the
passengers looks like gentlemen but as soon
as the train arrives the gentlemen transforms
into savages.
Through the interviews it is noticed that in
the railway station the “coolie’s” and the
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clerks are satisfied with their work but they
are not satisfied with the facilities provided
by the railway authorities and their wages.
Entering into the platform there was a coolie
with red shirt, gamcha (towel) and a golden
batch on their arm. A coolie Ramu working
from past ten years says” for me work is
only worship and I am satisfied by my
work” and then when further asked about
railway facilities he said “we don’t get much
facilities, we just get yearly pass of
travelling in train throughout the nation”
S
Fig.02. coolie’s in railway station
The burden of keeping railway station clean
lies in the hands of housekeeping staff. In
24hrs the work is divided into two shifts.
Jayaamma a house keeping staff says “I
work for 8 hours per day and what I get
from railway authority? A cup of tea!”
the railway division has set up bottle
crushers at KSR city station to minimise
plastic water bottle use. Dropping a used
plastic water bottle in these crushers will
give you a cashback of Rs five in the
person’s paytm e-wallet. The plan is to set
up such bottle cruches at major railway
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station to put a complete stop on plastic use
in future.
There are superfast trains, but for passengers
paying higher fares on them, there is little
difference in the travel time to Bengaluru ,
mainly because its city railway station is not
big to accommodate more trains, delayong
clearance for many. This is only one of the
many prroblems dogging Benaluru’s
Krantiveera sangolli Rayana(KSR) station,
which is badly in need of a makeover.
Althoug the railways promise faster travel
by introducing superfast trains to the city,
the lack of space on the tracks at the railway
station often delays clearance for them,
focusing passengers to endure the same long
travel time they are used to despite paying
higher fares. Despite the doubling and
electrification if the lines between Mysuru
and Bengaluru, the travel time between the
two cities has not been cut because the
platforms at the city railway station are not
free to allow the trains in.
While interviewing a railway supervisor he
said “The work on upgrading on station has
already began and acquisition of forest land
is underway” people are employed for
upgrading the railway station but it is
noticed that the changes done by them are
very low and the work carried on is very
slow. Mr alok, a railway activist, points out
“The KSR railway station needs more
platforms. Presently the mysuru trains enter
the station only on five and ten number of
platform”.
Number of trains enter to the platform
everyday where thousands of people come
and go from different places.A lot of people
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a lot of emotions. Each person have their

own dreams and burden of responsibilities
on their shoulders. Some delighted to come
back to their city while some dismayed to
come to a city which is completely unknown
to them. Bihari people are quite common in
the raiway station working as coolie’s, street
vendors or having petty shops in the station .

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