The South Western Railways (SWR) division has proposed to run three more pairs of trains to the Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru from the city. The recently built halt station, which is located 5 kilometres away from the airport, is ready for use, it added. The three trains will be in addition to the four pairs of trains that were already running before the lockdown. These trains are mostly targeted for the staff who work at the international airport, in addition to the passengers
The three trains have been proposed to run from Majestic (Krantiveera Sangolli Rayanna Bengaluru Railway Station), Yehalanka and Yeshwanthpur. Once operational, the trains to the airport station from Majestic are likely to start at 4.45 am and 7 am while the train from Yehalnka will be leaving at 7 am.
“We have sought approval from the Railway Board, Ministry of Railways in New Delhi, to run these new trains after having a detailed discussion with the airport management. They have suggested these timings will help the staff at the airport the most,” E Vijaya, Deputy General Manager, SWR, told TNM. She suggested that the approval might come only following the next set of Unlock guidelines issued by the Union Minister of Home Affairs with regards to the pandemic.
The airport halt station at the edge of the airport campus is built with funding provided by Bangalore International Airport Limited, the company that manages the airport. Although the four pairs of trains were running before the lockdown, the halt station was not ready. The work was completed in September. The commuters to the airport, including the staff, will be taken to the terminal in shuttle buses by the airport authority.
With this, commuters can reach the airport with only Rs 10 from Yehlanka and Rs 30 from Majestic.
Vijaya also said under the current infrastructure, no more trains can be introduced in that section.
Notably, with the dedicated suburban rail finally getting approved by the Union government, commuters are expected to reach the airport terminal directly on a train by the end of 2023.