If you're among the snobbish few who still think train travel is not at par with air travel, the Sir M Visvesvaraya Terminal in Bengaluru will have you rethinking your stance. The swanky new terminal in Baiyappanahalli is India's first AC railway terminal.
Railway Minister Piyush Goyal tweeted jaw-dropping pictures of the soon-to-be-inaugurated terminal which will have other state-of-the-art facilities, and will be a first for India's railway transit infrastructure.
The terminal has seven platforms connected by lifts and escalators, a foot overbridge and two subways. Spread over 4,200 sq m, it is expected to serve a footfall of 50,000 daily, and has been built at a cost of Rs 314 crore. Reports say the terminal will operate 50 trains per day.
Other amenities at the terminal include an upper class waiting hall, a food court, a VIP lounge, a digital real-time information hub, and a 4-lakh-litre water recycling plant. The parking can accommodate 900 two-wheelers, over 200 cars, 50 auto-rickshaws and 5 BMTC-size buses.
With the pandemic bringing attention back to domestic travel in a big way, and the railways getting a mega makeover, one could expect train travel to pick up in the coming days.