Bengaluru suburban rail to airport is finally on track, civil work tenders soon

"We will float tenders for the Sampige Line in two packages. The civil work tender for the KSR Bengaluru City to Yelahanka section will be invited in a few days, while the tender for the remaining Yelahanka to Devanahalli section, including the airport link, will be called in a month," a K-RIDE official told Moneycontrol.

Travel time between KSR Bengaluru City and the airport, around 40 km, by suburban rail on the Sampige Line will be one hour and seven minutes.

“We will operate three-coach AC trains with a five-minute frequency. The number of coaches will be increased to six once patronage grows, but all stations will be designed to accommodate nine-coach trains,” said the K-RIDE official.

KSR Bengaluru City will be the interchange station for both the Sampige Line and the Parijaata Line (Kengeri–Whitefield). "The interchange station will be located in front of KSR Bengaluru City railway station on Gubbi Thotadappa Road, making it accessible to passengers from both the CBD (central business district) areas and south Bengaluru," the official added.

K-RIDE officials said that the Sampige Line will run parallel to the existing Indian Railways track between KSR Bengaluru City and Devanahalli, branching off at Trumpet and passing through BK Halli and Aerospace Park. There will be two stations at KIA: Airport City and Airport Terminal. Devanahalli depot on the Sampige Line will cover 51 acres.

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"This airport line will also benefit many people working in BK Halli, Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board’s Defence Aerospace Park and nearby localities. As these areas will not have metro connectivity anytime soon, we hope to attract commuters from these localities as well," said the official.

Bottlenecks of Sampige Line

The Rs 15,767-crore project is funded 20 percent each by the Karnataka government and the Union government, with the remaining 60 percent coming from loans provided by foreign financial institutions.

While sanctioning the suburban rail project in October 2020, the Union government had asked K-RIDE to prioritise the airport corridor and make it operational by October 2023.

However, K-RIDE was forced to focus on other corridors reportedly due to pressure from Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL). The metro agency insisted that K-RIDE complete other corridors first, as BMRCL claimed that doing so would impact its ability to secure loans from foreign financial institutions for its airport line. BMRCL's Blue Line from Central Silk Board to KIA via KR Puram and Hebbal is expected to be ready by September 2026.

Justifying another mass transit link to the airport, K-RIDE officials said suburban rail will be faster and cheaper than the metro.

The K-RIDE official said the civil work for the Sampige Line corridor is entirely financed through foreign loans.

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KIA caters to more than 1 lakh passengers a day, about 72 percent of whom use cars and taxis, while the remaining 28 percent use buses.

Bangalore International Airport Limited, which operates KIA, is developing a multi-modal transport hub (MMTH). The proposed suburban railway station is expected to be located less than 500 metres from the MMTH.

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In 2021, SWR introduced MEMU (mainline electric multiple unit) trains along the existing single railway line from Yelahanka to Devanahalli, which was built in 1915. However, the service was not popular as passengers had to disembark at the KIA halt station and then take a shuttle bus to the airport itself. The poor frequency of train services also contributed to the low patronage.

Status of the suburban rail project

The Union government sanctioned the 148-km suburban rail project with four corridors in October 2020, with a completion timeline of six years (by 2026).

The four corridors are: 41 km Sampige Line (KSR Bengaluru–Yelahanka–Devanahalli), 24 km Mallige Line (Byappanahalli–Chikkabanavara), 35 km Parijaata Line (Kengeri–Whitefield) and 46 km Kanaka Line (Heelalige–Rajankunte). Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who laid the foundation stone in June 2022, stated that the project, first proposed in 1983, would be completed in 40 months.

However, K-RIDE invited the first civil work tender for the 25 km Mallige Line (Benniganahali-Chikkabanavara) only in November 2021. It took almost another year to award the tender to L&T in August 2022.

K-RIDE officials said the 7.4-km Chikkabanavara-Yeshwantpur priority section of the 25-km Mallige Line will be completed first in 2025, with the entire project expected to be ready by 2027-28. “More than 30 percent of physical progress has been made in the priority section. K-RIDE has also invited station tenders for this corridor,” the official said.

Also read: Bengaluru suburban rail: Agency invites tender for station work on 'priority section'

In December 2023, K-RIDE issued a letter of acceptance (LoA) for the civil work of the 46-km Kanaka Line. Officials said pre-construction activities, including work on minor bridges and earth retaining structures, have already started on this corridor.

For the 35-km Parijaata Line, the K-RIDE official said, “The alignment of the section between Kengeri and Bengaluru Cantonment is under approval by SWR. We may use shared tracks for the remaining section between Cantonment and Whitefield since the railways is undertaking quadrupling work, but we have yet to reach a consensus.”

K-RIDE has also proposed a Phase 2 project (extension of Phase 1 corridors) covering 452 km and connecting satellite towns and cities, including Kolar, Tumakuru, Mysuru, Bangarapet, Hosur and Gauribidanur. However, the Union government has not yet given a green signal.

Also read: Bengaluru suburban rail expansion plans to satellite towns stalled as South Western Railway raises red flags