High speed rail link may be extended

High speed rail link may be extended
Deccan Herald

The State government is contemplating on extending the high-speed rail link proposed between Devanahalli International Airport and Byappanahalli, to some location in Bangalore Central District.

The State Cabinet, which met on Wednesday, also discussed whether it was feasible to locate the rail terminal inside the City, based on the ‘Kuala Lampur model’ wherein passengers can have check-in facility at the railway station itself. Besides, facilities could be provided to passengers to check-in their baggage to be taken on the aircraft.

Briefing reporters after the meeting, Home Minister M P Prakash said extending the rail link from the Devanahalli airport to a location inside Bangalore City instead of Byappanahalli will be advantageous as passengers can utilise the facility to reach the airport directly.


The location opposite Cantonment Railway Station was considered a likely choice in terms of logistics for the terminal. However, South Western Railway officials had pointed out that the area was already congested. Setting up the station at Palace Grounds was also ruled out as the Supreme Court has issued directions that no permanent structures should come up at the disputed grounds.

The Infrastructure Department has been asked to study the land requirement consideration for setting up the terminal at various locations inside Bangalore City, Mr Prakash said.

Meanwhile, the Cabinet decided to constitute a sub-committee headed by Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy, on how to utilise the 408 acres of land which had been returned to the government by BIAL, following the change in the alignment of the runway.