Railways promise more trains to Kempegowda International Airport

The railways on Saturday agreed to increase the frequency of trains to Kempegowda International Airport and promised to expedite the work on the bridges at Carmelram and Bellandur to ease the flow of traffic.

In a review meeting with General Manager of the South Western Railway Sanjeev Kishore, Bangalore Central MP P C Mohan took stock of the pending works and presented the demands by commuters.

"There has been a consistent demand by the commuters for more trains to the airport. I raised the matter with the railways. The GM said they will discuss with the airport authorities about introducing more trains on the route during the next week," Mohan told DH.

On the road over bridge (ROB) at Carmelram and railway under the bridge at Bellandur, the railways told the MP about the prevailing issues, including the land acquisition hurdles.
After discussion over the delay in a land acquisition that has affected both the projects, Mohan stated that he will advise the local authorities suitably to quickly complete the land acquisition and shift the electrical utilities to fast track the works.

Officials said the General Arrangement Drawing (GAD) of the Carmelram ROB has been approved, and the work has been sanctioned at an estimated cost of Rs. 48.16 crores. Approx 2465 sqm of land is required for the approaches of the ROB. "The railways will call for tender by the end of this month, and they are liaisoning very closely with BBMP for land acquisition," the SWR said in a statement.

With regard to the Bellandur RUB, officials said the box-casting work near Bellandur Station (Panathur) has been completed for one vent and a temporary girder will be inserted on Sunday. This is deposit work and BBMP has proposed for construction of 2 vents, at an estimated cost of Rs. 10.4 crores. The casting of RCC boxes for the second vent can be taken only after the shifting of the electrical cables and utilities (transformers) by BESCOM.

Mohan told DH that he will coordinate with the BBMP and state government to respond quickly to the railways' request for land acquisition or shifting of utilities and clearances related to tree felling.