BENGALURU: Despite eight pairs of trains running between different parts of Bengaluru and the Kempegowda International Airport, Devanahalli (KIAD) halt station, the patronage continues to be poor. With Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw set to make his first visit to the station on Saturday, it is receiving a facelift presently.
As on date, one passenger train pair and seven pairs of Express trains stop at this station from Monday to Saturday. The ticket fare is a flat Rs 30 from any Express train to KIAD (same fare for return trip) while in the case of the passenger train (Diesel Electric Multiple Unit), it works out to Rs 10 from Bengaluru Cantonment and Yelahanka to the Airport station or return and Rs 15 from KSR Bengaluru City to KIAD (same fare for return).
The New Indian Express visited the station on Thursday evening and only a handful of passengers were present. A source at the spot said, “Most of the people who board and alight here are airport employees. There is very less patronage by flyers who had been demanding for such a service for long.”
TNIE gained access to data available with the Bangalore Railway Division since the launch of the first service on January 4, 2021. The occupancy figures on trains range between a shocking minimum of 0.5% to a maximum of just 30%.
In the break-up classified in terms of financial year, it has been revealed that in the seven months from April to October this year, only 1,948 passengers have travelled by the train and the ticketing revenue was just Rs 45,695. It averages just 278 passengers per month.
During the financial year April to March (2021-2022) with six months between May and October excluded as the pandemic halted operations, only 1643 passengers have hopped on to the train, which comes to a monthly average of 137 passengers. What is a stunning stat is that only five people on an average have travelled per day on all these trains put together!
Stats available from January to March of 2021 reveal that 1543 people have used these trains with a monthly average of 514 passengers, averaging 17 passengers a day.
A railway source said a simple solution to boost traffic to the station would be to open up a small entry from the side of the tracks to the surrounding areas of Kanamangala, Bachahalli Gate and Bhuvanahalli. “There is no connecting road from there areas to the halt station. If that is readied, residents from these areas would be able to access the station to travel to different parts of the City,” he explained.
Different trains from City to airport and occupancy figures supplied by SWR:
Source and destination Number Dep time Arrival time Occupancy
*KSR to Devanahalli (DHL) 06531 4.55 am 6.10 am 1%
*Yelahanka to KIAD 06534 7.45 am 8.03 am 0.5%
*Bluru Cantonment (BNC)-DHL 06536 12.20 pm 1.20 pm 1%
*BNC to DHL 06538 4 pm 4.55 pm 1%
*Yelahanka to DHL 06540 7.15 pm 7.35 pm 0.5%
*KSR to Kolar 16549 6.10 pm 7.08 pm 30%
*KSR to Kolar 06387 8.35 am 9.48 am 25%
*Yesvantpur to DHL 06593 10 am 10.44 am 1%
From Airport to different stations in Bengaluru
Source and destination Number Dep time Arrival time Occupancy
*Devanahalli (DHL) to Yelahanka 06539 6 pm 6.20 pm 0.5%
*DHL to Bluru Cantonment 06537 2.08 pm 3.15 pm 1%
*DHL to BNC 06535 8.58 am 10.10 am 1%
*DHL-Yelahanka 06533 6.39 am 7 am 0.5%
*DHL to KSR 06532 7.59 pm 9.20 pm 1%
*Kolar to SBC 16550 8.21 am 9.35 am 30%
*Kolar to BNC 06388 4.07 pm 5.40 pm 19%
*DHL to YPR 06594 12.37 pm 2.15 pm 1%
*The first seven are Express trains while the last one is a passenger train
*Stats given by South Western Railway Zone.