Bengaluru: You can soon exit or enter Kempegowda International Airport terminal from the parking lot without any hassle. Bangalore International Airport Ltd (BIAL) officials said a fully covered 420m walkway connecting P4 parking zone and terminal 1 will be ready by mid-2022.
The walkway will link Quad By BLR, a retail area, and F&B zone. “It will be equipped with lift, elevators, escalators, staircase and moving walkways,” said a BIAL spokesperson. “About 40% of the work has been completed.”
The spokesperson said while the elevated portion is 205m, the height from the road level to the soffit of the walkway is 5m. At parking area P4, it is approximately 9m. The walkway is expected to bring relief to passengers with heavy baggage.
Many commuters welcomed the walkway with modern facilities, but said a similar one is needed at Byappanahalli to connect the Metro station and Sir M Visvesvaraya terminal (Byappanahalli’s third coaching terminal). At present, Sir MV terminal has no connectivity to both Swami Vivekananda Road and Byappanahalli Metro stations. In fact, Sir MV terminal will also have no suburban rail connectivity as the nearest suburban station planned is at Maruthi Seva Nagar.
“It is better to construct a moving walkway connecting Byappanahalli Metro station and Sir MV terminal for the benefit of passengers with luggage. At present, roads leading to Sir MV terminal are narrow and will be clogged once operations begin. Passengers will also be at the mercy of auto drivers. A moving walkway will help public transport users,” said K Ravikumar, a regular rail passenger.
A senior government official agreed. “A skywalk is more practical from Byappanahalli Metro station to Sir MV terminal, not through NGEF land but through that of railways. It would be around 1.5km long. When railways constructed a terminal there, it should also provide connectivity to commuters,” he said. “It’s possible to develop that area as a multi-modal transit hub, with railway, suburban, metro and bus (BMTC and inter-city both) operations. BMRCL has about 25 acres of land. Road access also needs to be improved significantly,” he said.
However, South Western Railway officials said they don’t have immediate plans of providing a walkway between Byappanahalli station and Sir MV terminal. “If the government is interested, it can provide one through NGEF land. BMRCL can take the initiative,” said an official.
06/12/21 Times of India
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