After Metro, city to get travelators

BRMCL proposes to introduce Rs 600-crore project, which is a walkway equipped with electric cars, on 10-acre lifestyle centre at Byappannahalli Metro station; Bangalore will be first city in the country to introduce this facility

Buoyed by the overwhelming response to its Metro services, the BMRCL is now planning to introduce a 'travelator'u00a0-- a walkway equipped with electric cars. If the BMRCL has its way, Bangalore will be the first city in the entire country to introduce the services. The pioneering mega project is expected to cost about Rs 600 crore and will be a part of the 10 acre Commuter Lifestyle Centre at the Byappanahalli Metro Station.

Making life easier: Besides the proposed travelator project at the
Commuter Lifestyle Centre at the Byappanahalli Metro Station, the BMRCL
proposes to develop a convention centre on the lines of the India
Habitat Centre, Delhi. File pic

The travelators will circumnavigate the entire building complex and provide commuters easy assess between the Centre and the Metro station.

Expansion plans
The Bangalore Metro, which opened services on the Reach 1 from Byappanahalli to MG Road for the general public last week, has received a tremendous response from commuters. The BMRCL is now looking at property development too.
u00a0
"We are looking at developing a convention centre on the lines of the India Habitat Centre, Delhi. The Centre will have a hypermart, a 3-star hotel and even an art gallery. The estimated cost of the project as of now is Rs 600 crore," said B L Y Chavan, spokesperson, BMRCL.

So what is actually a travelator and how does it work? "Travelator is a moving walkway very much like an escalator but covers a longer distance than the latter. It will provide easy and fast accessibility for the visitors to the centre. We are also looking at the possibility of electric cars. All this will be part of the whole project and will take over four years for completion." added Chavan.

Don't lose focus
Basking in the glory of initial success of the Metro, the BMRCL also plans to venture into the realty sector. But the city urban planners are of the opinion that BMRCL should now focus on running the Metro services successfully instead of concentrating on newer projects.

"Currently the BMRCL should be mainly focused in expanding the Metro lines. The city is growing faster and so it should be more focused on improving various connectivity related aspects, everything else should be secondary," said Ashwin Mahesh, city based urban expert.

Further, doubts are being raised on the viability of such a project. "The project will mainly benefit the local community, but it won't really matter much to the residents in other parts of the city. The BMRCL should look into all the aspects before taking up the project," said Mahesh.

On the charts
*u00a0Project Cost - Rs 600 crore
* Completion Time - 4 years (from the date of tendering)
*u00a0BMRCL plans to incorporate a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) under the Companies Act, 1956 by the Selected Bidder for the purpose of implementing, operating and maintaining the Project.