Bengaluru City railway station, officially designated KSR Bengaluru City Junction, is the principal railway terminus serving the city of Bengaluru, the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. It was renamed in July 2014 after the Kannada poet and Jnanpith awardee Kuppali Venkatappa Puttappa (Kuvempu). The station is one of the busiest in South India and serves as a major hub of the South Western Railway zone of Indian Railways.
| Key facts | |
|---|---|
| Official name | KSR Bengaluru City Junction |
| Station code | SBC |
| Location | Gubbi Thotadappa Road, Bengaluru, Karnataka |
| Owner | Indian Railways |
| Operator | South Western Railway zone |
| Division | Bengaluru railway division |
| Line | Broad gauge, electrified |
| Renamed after | Kuvempu (2014) |
The station is situated in the central part of Bengaluru, opposite the Kempegowda Bus Station (Majestic) operated by the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation. It is connected to the Namma Metro network through the Nadaprabhu Kempegowda station at Majestic, the interchange point of the Purple and Green lines. The complex contains multiple platforms catering to long-distance, intercity and suburban services.
Rail services to Bengaluru began in the colonial era under the Madras Railway, with the line from Jolarpettai opened in 1864 connecting the city to Madras (Chennai). The present terminus developed as the principal city station, distinguished from the older Bangalore Cantonment station. Over the decades the station was progressively expanded, converted to broad gauge during the Unigauge programme, and later electrified.
On 16 July 2014, the Government of India approved the renaming of the station to Krantivira Sangolli Rayanna Bengaluru City Railway Station, honouring the 19th-century freedom fighter Sangolli Rayanna. The station code SBC, however, has been retained.
The station originates and terminates a wide range of long-distance trains, including Rajdhani, Shatabdi, Vande Bharat, Duronto, Sampark Kranti and Humsafar services connecting Bengaluru to New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Thiruvananthapuram and other major cities. It also handles a significant volume of intercity express, passenger and MEMU services to destinations within Karnataka and neighbouring states. Suburban services operate to Whitefield, Hosur, Tumakuru and Ramanagara among others.
As the central terminus of one of India's largest metropolitan areas, the station plays a critical role in passenger movement to and from Bengaluru. The integration with Namma Metro and the adjacent Kempegowda Bus Station makes the precinct one of the largest multimodal transport nodes in the country. The station has been part of modernisation initiatives by Indian Railways aimed at upgrading passenger amenities, platform infrastructure and digital signage.