South Western Railway has decided to operate extra MEMU trains from KSR Bengaluru to International Airport for the ease of the passengers who want to use a mode of public transport to reach the airport. With this rail service, one can easily reach the airport within 45 minutes from Bengaluru city.
Special trains for the airport
As a major relief for travelers in Bengaluru, the commute between the city and the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) has been made easier and extremely economical by the introduction of five new MEMU (Mainline Electric Multiple Unit) trains by the South Western Railway (SWR), which started on Friday, July 29.
Divisional Railway Manager (Bengaluru) Shyam Singh speaking to The Hindu said that the new train timetables 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.”
The five trains are:
- 06531/06532 KSR Bengaluru City-Devanahalli-KSR Bengaluru
- 06533/06534 Devanahalli-Yelahanka-Devanahalli,
- 06535/06536 Devanahalli-Cantonment-Devanahalli,
- 06537/06538 Devanahalli-Cantonment -Devanahalli and
- 06539/06540 Devanahalli-Yelahanka-Devanahalli.
Cheaper option
Bengaluru airport express train fare is kept at Rs. 10 to Rs. 30 per head. If the train originates from KSR Bengaluru then the fare is Rs. 10 for reaching the airport by Passenger Train, and Rs. 15 by express train. The train originating from Bengaluru Cantonment will fare up to Rs 30.
This will be cheaper compared to BMTC bus fare which is around Rs. 230 and cab fares which can be above Rs. 600.
According to the reports, these trains are set to run for six days a week, with no services on Sundays. All of them will stop at the halt station which is around 3.5 kilometers away from KIA. This halt station was built by the Bengaluru International Airport Limited (BIAL), the operator of the Bengaluru airport to make the commute easier for both airport employees and passengers. The BIAL also runs a free shuttle service between the halt station and the airport terminal.
