Bengaluru: BIAL to operate food and beverage outlets at airport railway station

BENGALURU: Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) will operate food and beverage outlets at the proposed airport railway halt station for two years.
South Western Railway and BIAL on Tuesday signed an MoU for the Kempegowda International Airport Railway Station (Halt). “The work is nearing completion. BIAL will hand over the station to the Railways, which will operate and maintain it. BIAL will provide free shuttle service from the halt station to the airport,” stated a release from BIAL.
Bengaluru divisional railway manager Ashok Kumar Verma said the Rs 3 crore-station will be ready by September-end. “At present, three pairs of trains are passing through the section (Bengaluru-Kolar). We plan to introduce three more pairs based on the patronage, but now the occupancy rate is poor,” he said. However, the halt station missed December 2019, February 2020, April 2020 and August 2020 deadlines. The BIAL suggested building a halt station in 2014, however, SWR gave green signal only in July 2019.
The station, constructed on railway land, will have a high-level platform with waiting hall and ticketing counters. “The station is coming up between Doddajala and Devanahalli stations which are just 3.5km from the airport terminal. The station is located between Yelahanka and Chikkaballapur and is at a distance of 12km from Yelahanka Junction railway station,” SWR stated.