Bangalore City railway station

It is located across the Kempegowda Bus Station. The station has 10 platforms and three entrances.

The establishment of the British cantonment in 1809 made Bangalore a crucial military hub in South India. Soon enough, a need arose to establish more transportation links between the new civil and military outpost with the colonial administrative headquarters in Madras. In the 1840s, proposals for these railway lines were debated in the railway lines were debated in the British Parliament, a move supported by traders and shipping companies. In Bangalore, it was Sir Mark Cubbon who pushed for the development of the railway link during his tenure as the Commissioner of Mysuru and Kodagu. He proposed a railroad project connecting Mysuru and Madras through Bangalore and Calicut but the plan was stalled. The line was initially meant for military purposes -for transporting soldiers, grains and ammunition but was later made open to the public. Lewin Bentham Bowring took over as the commissioner of Mysuru and the land for the railway project was donated by the Mysuru government. The train that chugged from Cantonment was called `Bangalore Mail', which is the oldest running train in Indian Railways. The year 1864 also saw other crucial developments in Bangalore. The railway link was a turning point in the history of the city as it encouraged immigration from the rest of the country. Trade witnessed a huge boost, many potters from Madras also settled down in the Cantonment around the same time, leading to the establishment of Pottery Town.[3]

In 1944, the rail network was nationalised. On 14 April 1951, the three major networks administered by the erstwhile Madras and Southern Maratha Railway, the Southern Indian Railway and Mysore State Railway were joined to form Southern Railway.

Due to historical reasons, the headquarters of the erstwhile Mysore State Railway was located in Mysore though Bangalore was the hub of operations. To improve administration and enhance monitoring, Bangalore Division was inaugurated on 27 July 1981.[4]

The metre-gauge lines bound to Hubli, Mysore were converted into broad gauge in the 1990s.

Platforms 1 to 7 connect to the Chennai and Salem railway lines. On platforms 8 to 10, service trains arrive via Yeshwantpur from Hubballi-Dharwad. Platforms 1 to 4 terminate at Bangalore. On platforms 5 to 10, service trains depart towards Mysuru. There are railway lines between Platforms 4 and 5 that are used as the railway yard. There are 5 railway lines passing from Bangalore City railway station – to Hyderabad via Guntakal, Chennai via Krishnarajapuram, Salem via Hosur, Mysuru, Hubballi-Dharwad via Tumkur, Birur. The Bangalore–Chennai railway line via Bangalore Cantonment, Bangarpet, is fully electrified and open for traffic. The Bangalore–Mysore line is also doubled and electrified.

The railway station is served by City Railway Station metro station on the Namma Metro's Purple Line, which opened on 30 April 2016. Later that year, the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) decided to construct a foot overbridge from the metro station until the boundary of the railway station, while the South Western Railway, would complete the rest of the work.[5][6] The foot overbridge connecting platform 10 with the metro station was opened on 18 February 2019. The BMRC reported that monthly ridership at the metro station was 175,000 passengers per day prior to opening the bridge, and increased to 250,000 two months after its opening.[7]

The railway station is also served by Kempegowda Bus Station.

The important trains originating from Bangalore city station are Bangalore Mail, Karnataka Express, Rani Chennamma Express, Chennai Shatabdi Express, Rajdhani Express, Lal Bagh Express, Brindavan Express and Tippu Express.

• Mysore–Bangalore railway line

Bangalore City railway station shown on map

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bangalore City railway station.

• Bangalore City railway station at the India Rail Info