From Friday, air passengers and people working at the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) will have an economical option to travel between the city and the airport. The South Western Railway (SWR), on Thursday, announced that five pairs of MEMU trains will be introduced on the newly electrified line connecting the airport.
Operational difficulties that included the presence of a transmission line over the track had delayed the commissioning of MEMU services for a long time. Recently, the Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Limited (KPTCL) replaced the old transmission line, heightening the line as per the safety standards. Thereafter, the SWR carried out the trials of MEMU trains and decided to operate the new services.
Introduction of the new service is expected to benefit people travelling to the airport as they can travel paying ₹30 to ₹35 from city points.
Divisional Railway Manager (Bengaluru) Shyam Singh told The Hindu that the new train schedules have been fixed after consulting the Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL), the operator of the Bengaluru airport. “After clearing all safety hurdles for running MEMU trains, we are introducing the new services from Friday. The services have been introduced in consultation with the BIAL.”
In 2021, the SWR for the first time introduced five pairs of the DEMU services to the airport. However, the services received poor patronage. Eventually, the services were stopped owing to poor patronage and other operational constraints.
Rail activist K.N. Krishnaprasad said: “Reintroduction of the train services is a good development. The SWR should explore the possibility of running trains at other times also. In addition to this, there is a need to run trains from other locations in the city.”
Commuters have also demanded that the SWR to run trains to KIA from Yeshwantpur, Hosur, Whitefield, and other destinations.