KIA railway station lies deserted, ticket counters unmanned

Kempegowda International Airport’s (KIA) halt railway station (KIAD) currently lies deserted on most days due to the poor frequency of trains, complete with an abandoned ticketing booth.

Currently, South Western Railway (SWR) operates three pairs of MEMU (Mainline Electric Multiple Unit) trains, and at least one gets cancelled on a daily basis, say regular users. The trains connect KSR and Yeshwantpur to KIA, Monday through Saturday. Trains to Cantonment were cancelled by SWR earlier this year, citing maintenance issues.

While the station is not known to be well-connected and easily accessible since its inauguration in 2021, the situation has worsened since January 2025, according to contract workers and labourers at KIA, who rely on its service on a daily basis.

When DH visited the spot recently, passengers were seen taking photos with an empty ticket counter. “The empty counter has become the norm now. So, we take a selfie at the ticket counter and board the train. In case the ticket collector catches us, we show the empty counter to him,” said Mahendra, a 27-year-old employee on KIA premises. According to officials at SWR, about 30 people use the trains on a daily basis, but security on the ground says the numbers are dwindling. “On some days, less than 20 people travel,” he shared.

The station, clean and well-maintained by Bengaluru Airport Transport Limited (BIAL), is located 3.5 km away from the airport, and passengers have to take a shuttle bus to access it. However, the ground staff at both terminals remain unaware of both train and shuttle timings.

The shuttle operates in accordance with the train timings, and it takes about 20 minutes to reach the station. On Thursday afternoon, passengers were asked by the BIAL ground staff not to take the railway shuttle and instead use BMTC’s Vayu Vajra to get to the city. “There was only one train to KSR this morning; the other train to KSR has been cancelled,” they informed.

Some tourists who were trying to get to Majestic were miffed, as they believed offering the BMTC as a replacement was unfair, as the price difference doesn’t match up. With tickets priced between Rs 10 and Rs 30, the trains are the cheapest mode of transport available at the airport.

In February, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav mooted the proposal of moving the railway line closer to the airport and improving frequency to better last-mile connectivity.

Ticket counter remains open yet unattended most of the time.