Soon you can take a train to catch your flight

Soon you can take a train to catch your flight

Srikanth Hunasavadi. Bangalore

Catching a flight will get easier now from Yeshwantpur. The South Western Railway (SWR) is planning to start a push-pull train service to Devanahalli, 1.5 km from the Bengaluru International Airport (BIA).
"Feasibility studies are on and service may start from March," said G Janardhan Reddy, minister of infrastructure and tourism, after a meeting with KH Muniyappa, Union minister of state for railways, on Saturday.
SWR is also toying with the idea of a station at BIA itself so that commuters would not have to rely on cabs or autorickshaws to reach the airport from Devanahalli station. V Madhu, principal secretary, infrastructure development, said SWR is also considering services from Yeshwantpur to Anekal.
Dr AS Kodandapani, urban planner, says SWR will have to upgrade Devanahalli station which at present lacks water and toilet facilities. It is reliably learnt that Reddy is pitching in for at least five new railway projects for the state in the Union Rail Budget. Madhu added that the focus would be on public-private partnership (PPP) for the implementation of these proposed projects.