BENGALURU: By the time you read this, a Diesel Electric Multiple Unit (DEMU) (Train no. 06285) will have made its historic first run from the Krantivira Sangolli Rayanna (KSR) Bengaluru City railway station to Devanahalli, after halting at the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) Halt Station.
The new rail service offers a more convenient option for air passengers to reach the international airport.
The train leaves KSR Bengaluru station at 4.45 am on Monday and touch KIA halt station at 5.50 am, before terminating at Devanahalli.
The eight-coach train can carry a maximum of 2,402 passengers, and the cost of a ticket is just Rs 15 from the City railway station to the airport station.
Enroute, it will stop at Bengaluru Cantonment, Bengaluru East, Baiyappanahalli, Channasandra, Yelahanka, Bettahalasur and Doddajala, and will run six days a week.
The KIA halt station, nearly 4 km from the airport, located between Yelahanka and Devanahalli railway stations, was supposed to be ready by December 2019.
Nevertheless, it is set to make history as the only railway station in the country with Flight Information Display Systems that will help flyers know if their flight is on time or delayed as soon as they reach the station by train.
It will also have CCTV cameras, not usually found in halt stations. Apart from greenery around, it has beautiful artwork adorning the walls.
All passenger amenities including ramp and special toilets for the disabled, restrooms for men and women, approach road, booking office, drinking water, cafeteria, granite benches and vending machines are made available.
Two more new DEMU services will also have a debut run on Monday to the halt station — one more from KSR in the evening and another from Yelahanka, while two trains already running since pre-Covid days, will also halt here.
Train to have 6 coaches, reach airport in 1 hour
The DEMU train, which has created a buzz in the city since the announcement that it will be the first to chug into the Kempegowda International Halt station (KIAD) on Monday, did not have the swanky, glamorous look one associates with a train set to perform such a historic run.
Resting at the Bengaluru Cantonment DEMU shed over the past week, the train has been created from the spare rakes available with the South Western Railway Zone.
V Surendranath, Coach Depot Officer (Banswadi and Baiyappanahalli ) Bengaluru Division, told The New Indian Express, “The coaches were manufactured long ago at the Integral Coach Factory at Perambur, Tamil Nadu, and had been sent for regular periodic overhauling at the Hubballi workshop. Painting work has also been done there. Each coach will have been readied at a different time, so no specific dates for it can be given. After being brought to Cantonment, the coupling of the coaches was done here within a period of two days.”
“The motor cars (locos) at both ends will occupy only a small portion of the end coaches and passengers can occupy those coaches too. The six trailing cars will be only for passengers,” he added.
Each of the trailing cars can carrying 325 passengers (84 seating and 241 standing) while each motor car will have 226 passengers (55 seated and 121 standing), said an official release. Jayant Ramachandra, Senior Divisional Mechanical Engineer, Bengaluru Division, said, “The DEMU can run at a speed of 100 kmph wherever possible, but it has to adhere to speed restrictions enroute. It is not a brand new train but an integration of coaches. Of course, the train will be decorated with floral garlands,” he said.
Shuttle services to airport
The Bangalore International Airport Ltd plans to run shuttle service to ferry passengers to and from Kempegowda International Airport and the KIA halt station.
KIA Halt Railway Station in Bengaluru is all set to serve travelers from 4th January. This will go a long way in enhancing last-mile connectivity to Bengaluru airport, benefit lakhs of people — Piyush Goyal, Railway Minister.
Starting Monday, Bengalureans can take a train to KIA , Devanahalli station. Trains will operate from Bengaluru city station to the newly built KIA, Devanahalli Railway halt station. —B S Yediyurappa, Chief Minister.