The establishment of the British cantonment in 1809 made Bengaluru 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 British Parliament, a move supported by traders and shipping companies. In Bengaluru, Sir
Mark Cubbon pushed for the development of the railway link during his tenure as the Commissioner of Mysore and Coorg. He proposed a railroad project connecting Mysore and Madras through Bengaluru 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 Mysore and the land for the railway project was donated by the Mysore government. The train that chugged from Cantonment was called 'Bangalore Mail'. The year 1864 also saw other crucial developments in Bengaluru. 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, and many potters from Madras also settled down in the Cantonment around the same time, leading to the establishment of Pottery Town. 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 Bengaluru was the hub of operations. To improve administration and enhance monitoring, Bengaluru Division was inaugurated on 27 July 1981. The metre-gauge lines bound to Hubli, Mysore were converted into broad gauge in the 1990s. In 2015 it was decided to rename the station; three stations in the city were using Bangaluru in their name. The station was renamed Krantiveera Sangolli Rayanna Bangalore Station in 2016 in honour of the Indian freedom fighter
Sangolli Rayanna, who fought against British rule in Karnataka.. The station has numerous licensed food stalls, modernised digital lockers, facilities for the disabled, and child-friendly spaces which will also accommodate trafficked children. == Platforms ==