South Western Railway to operate five trains to airport from today
South Western Railway
Bengaluru: SWR will operate a train service daily from Monday between the main city station and Devanahalli near the Bengaluru international airport. "Two pairs of trains will operate from Monday between KSR station and the airport Devanahalli halt station. The fare is Rs 15 for one-way trip," a zonal official said.
The international airport has grown by leaps and bounds since its opening in 2008 without any mass public transport connectivity, barring BMTC's Volvo services. Commuting to the airport from different parts of the city has been a painful thing in the absence of a dedicated rapid transport facility. But all that is a thing of past now.
A tenacious campaign by rail activists in Bengaluru, has finally borne fruit as the South Western Railway is all set to run train services to the airport from Monday. With this, commuters will get faster alternative to reach the airport at fares as low as Rs 10-Rs 15. SWR will operate a total of five trains from different destinations in the city to the international airport.
According to reports, the train from city railway station (Kranthiveera Sangolli Rayanna station) will leave at 4:45 a.m. another at 9 p.m. From Yelahanka, Yeshwantpur and Bengaluru Cantonment the trains will leave at 7 a.m., 8:30 a.m. and 5:55 p.m. respectively.
"It is a good initiative as considerable number of workers from employed in airport security, housekeeping, maintenance, cargo handling, ground support, hotel, garden, canteen etc., depend on public transport. All these days they were forced to spend a lot on bus fares and other modes of transport. Now they can find a cheaper, reliable and faster transport facility. By March end electrification of the line would be completed and SWR will also run MEMU (mainline electric multiple unit) trains to Devanahalli," said Sanjeev Dyamannavar, founding member, Praja RAAG.
The South Western Railway (SWR) has fixed train timings in consultation with the airport authority so as to benefit hundreds of airport staff. From the airport, the Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) has arranged shuttle buses to ferry passengers to the terminal located near the Cargo.
By the end of 2023, another rail line as part of the recently approved dedicated suburban rail project to the airport is also expected to be ready.