: A postcard campaign started by the civic group Citizens for Bengaluru (CfB) with regard to the suburban railways has got massive response since it kicked off on September 10. The campaign required citizens to send postcards to the four sitting Lok Sabha MPs, as well as the two MPs from the Rajya Sabha from the Bengaluru region, asking them to press the demand with Piyush Goyal, Union Railway Minister.
Over 3,000 postcards were sent to the MPs with each MP getting around 500 postcards, according to Tara Krishnaswamy, member, CfB. “Most people made sure that their families and friends also got involved. While each of them were required to send one postcard each, many of them bought around 25 to 30...
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postcards. There were those who even sent 100 to 200. Even school children got involved and sent 800 postcards. Senior citizens were also part of the campaign,” adds Tara, who herself sent her postcard through a post office on Bannerghatta Road.
Suburban railways have been a long standing demand of a number of Bengalureans, especially those who work in the IT sector. An online campaign was started by CfB, called the #ModaliTrainBeku, that has been running for a few months now.
“It is sort of a hashtag-meets-postcard campaign since our ‘#ModaliTrainBeku’ campaign demands were also met through postcards,” adds Tara. Such was the level of enthusiasm that while many small post offices did not have postcards, people went to bigger offices to get them, adds Tara.
Members of other citizens groups, such as Bellandur Jothege, Whitefield Rising and Malleswaram Swabhimana also participated in the postcard campaign. As many as 100 postcards were sent from Chennai too by working professionals who travel here for work every week.

Mainline electrical multiple units (MEMU) trains of Bengaluru Railway Division no longer need to go up to railway workshops in Tamil Nadu for major repair works. Without any fanfare, a fully-integrated coach care centre was commissioned at Banaswadi on Tuesday by General Manager of South Western Railway A K Gupta.
“In layman terms, this is like a one-stop point for taking care of trains, like workshops exist for cars or two-wheelers,” a senior Railway official explained. Krishi Infratech has built the Centre for Railways at a cost of Rs 17.78 crore.
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maintenance shed running into 168m X 20m and extension of an existing MEMU shed by an additional 70m have been created here. “Both conventional coaches as well as MEMU trains which extend up to 12 coaches,  including that for future suburban trains, can be examined and taken care of here,” a senior Railway official said.
Another official said, “The present 12-coach MEMU coaches had to be taken up to Avadi or Tambaram workshops in Tamil Nadu  for major repairs. From now, it can be done at Banaswadi,” he said. Conventional coaches had to be taken up to KSR railway station for maintenance and some of them can be maintained at Banaswadi henceforth. It will help the Baiyappanahalli Coaching Terminal expected to be commissioned early next year, he said.  
Ten coaches can be stabled here at any given time. “The Stabling Line runs to 386 m while the Shunting Neck (where trains take a turn and cross between lines)  runs to 405 m, “ the source said.  A special aspect is an Inspection Platform. “This will help us examine the under-gear of the coaches,” he said.