Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai has said that plans are on to build a high-speed rail link between Bengaluru city and Kempegowda International Airport (KIA).
“We have plans to connect Bengaluru airport with the city centre with a high-speed train. KIA will become a unique airport, connected by three railway lines with the Metro, and the suburban and the high-speed train,” he said on Sunday after inaugurating the new 7.5 km-long Western Extension Line under Phase-2 of Namma Metro from Mysore Road Metro Station to Kengeri Metro Stations. Union Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri was also present on the occasion.
The plan for the high-speed rail link was originally proposed in 2001-02, during the tenure of the S M Krishna-led Congress government. Later in 2008, the state government had considered introducing a high-speed rail link between MG Road in the Central Business District(CBD) and the airport at a proposed cost Rs 6689 crore. The proposed 37km high-speed rail link (HSRL) project was to reduce the commute time to the airport to around 20 minutes.
In 2013, the proposal again came up right after the then CM Siddaramaiah had taken an eight-minute, 50km high-speed train ride from Shanghai Central to the Pudong International Airport during his visit to China. But the proposed plan did not proceed due to the high costs involved and land acquisition issues.
Meanwhile, after Bommai spoke about the plan on Sunday, sources in the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) and the urban development department told the Indianexpress.com were not aware of any such plan to revive the proposed project.
31/08/21 Darshan Devaiah BP/Indian Express
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