Airport train services fail to attract daily passengers

Bengaluru: Less than 50 people on a daily basis use the airport train services that were launched by the South Western Railway (SWR) amid a lot of fanfare in January this year

Bengaluru: Less than 50 people on a daily basis use the airport train services that were launched by the South Western Railway (SWR) amid a lot of fanfare in January this year. Even though the ticket is priced at just ₹10, the ridership continues to remain low, according to SWR.

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The average cost of travelling to Kemepgowda International Airport here ranges from ₹700 to ₹1,400.

Experts in the city are not surprised at the low figures. “The train runs at odd hours and the frequency is not great either. Considering the fact that the railway had shut down the service for some work (during the second week of February) shows there is a lack of consistency. It was obvious that the project would not be a success and will require more time to settle,” Srinivas Alavilli, head of civic participation of Janaagraha, a non-profit organisation working for urban governance, said.

Even though a SWR spokesperson said that efforts are underway to revise the train schedule to attract more passengers, activists claimed that the service was nothing less than eyewash. Instead of a single service only to the airport, the work on the suburban line to the airport which has been delayed due to “bureaucratic egos” should have begun by now, they argued.

The 41.40 km suburban line connecting Bengaluru city railway station to the airport via Yeshwantpur was approved by the Union Cabinet Committee of Economic Affairs in October 2020. Following this, K-RIDE (Karnataka Rail Infrastructure Development Company), joint venture between the state and Centre, announced that the airport line would be a priority and be completed in three years.

However, following a meeting between the government and the Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL), K-RIDE changed its plan to develop the direct airport line first.

“Even though the BMRCL has not received approval for their airport line, they are asking K-RIDE not to prioritise the same. Clearly, they are concerned that the sub-urban rail would affect their plans to have a metro line to the airport,” Sanjeev Dyamannavar, a rail activist, said.

“With minimal land acquisition requirements, K-RIDE could have ensured that the train chugs to the airport terminal within the stipulated time of three years. But because of this competition, the people of Bengaluru have been denied convenient transport to the airport,” he added.

Activists also pointed at the lack of coordination between authorities responsible for public transport in the city. “The smooth integration of the bus, suburban rail and metro is the solution for providing a seamless transportation network. But the fact remains that there is a lack of coordination and an urgency to prioritise the work by these agencies,” Alavilli said.

Experts believe that a plan to effectively use both the sub-urban rail and metro is still not on the cards.

A former Indian Railway official, on the condition of anonymity, raised flags over the current plan for the suburban rail network.

“If you look at the map of the proposed railway network, it is ‘urban rail’ rather than ‘suburban rail’ as it only reaches the edge of the city. Ideally, the suburban railway should have been connected to the district in the outskirts of Bengaluru like Tumkur and Chikkabalapur while metro should have been provided for commuting within the city,” he said.

He added that when compared to other cities running sub-urban rails, the proposed 148 km is not good enough.

“Bengaluru needs at least a 500-km long suburban rail network (according to the proposal, the suburban rail will be 148-km long). Mumbai has more than 700 km, Chennai has over 500 km while Kolkata has 1,500 km of suburban train. There should be long term planning for such development where commutation to Bengaluru from neighbouring districts would be faster. There is no such planning right now,” he said.

A K-RIDE official, preferring anonymity, said that work has begun on the Byappanahalli-Yeshwantpur- Chikkabanavara and Heelalige-Byappanahalli- Rajanukunte lines.

“This is because of government instructions. It is not that we will not work on the airport line, but it will happen much later,” the official said.

The official refused to comment on the rivalry between the two agencies leading to the delay in the project. BMRCL spokesperson was not available for comments at the time of filing this report.