Baiyyappanahalli

The story of Baiyyappanahalli

Baiyyappanahalli is a neighbourhood in Bengaluru’s eastern part, and the most striking thing about it is how much of the city’s rail and metro movement is concentrated here: the Baiyappanahalli metro station, Sir M. Visvesvaraya Terminal, and Baiyyappanahalli railway station all anchor this area.

The neighbourhood is part of C. V. Raman Nagar in East Bengaluru, so when you stand here you are in a place defined less by monuments than by connections. Baiyappanahalli metro station is an at-grade station on the East-West corridor of the Purple Line of Namma Metro. It was one of the first six metro stations to be opened to the public in October 2011, and the first train departed from here towards Mahatma Gandhi Road. Until 9 October 2023, it was the eastern terminal of the Purple Line, before the line was extended to Whitefield (Kadugodi). The metro’s first toilets were opened here and at Indiranagar stations on 21 June 2013.

Baiyappanahalli also hosts the Coaching depot for Metro service. Baiyappanahalli railway station is an Indian Railways train station here, about 13 km away from the Bangalore City railway station, serving Baiyyappanahalli and Krishnarajapuram areas. Sir M. Visvesvaraya Terminal was inaugurated in 2022. It is an Indian Railways train station being built at the same space where Baiyyappanahalli Yard once stood, and it is set to be commissioned as the city’s third major Railway Terminal after KSR Bengaluru and Yesvantpur. Its façade is modeled after the Kempegowda International Airport terminal, and an over bridge is being constructed on the approach road from Old Madras Road.

The neighbourhood also has a recorded history of administrative change. Old Baiyyappanahalli, once a village called Baiyyappanahalli Manavarthe Kaval, had 2742 inhabitants in 1981 and was considered uninhabited during 1991 Census. It was merged with Vimanapura, then called Baiyyappanahalli Vimanapura, and together with Benniganahalli formed Baiyyappanahalli NMCT, which had 14905 persons during 1991 Census. In January 2007, the Karnataka Government issued a notification to merge the areas under then Bangalore Mahanagara Palike with nearby local bodies and villages, including Baiyyappanahalli NMCT, to form Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike; the process was completed by April 2007.

If you are looking around now, the useful thing to notice is that Baiyyappanahalli is not just a place name on a map: it is one of the key transfer points where metro, rail, and commuter movement meet.