By Anuksha Dey
If you are a student who has moved to Bangalore to pursue your higher studies like me, two things can be said about your life. The first, you have to fly back to your home town at least twice a year. The second, you are almost always too broke to afford a cab. Since I moved to Bangalore, the journey to and from the airport has become the bane of my existence. Busses take way too long and cabs are just too expensive. I have even tried taking a Rapido to the airport before realizing the journey was just too long for a two wheeler. So naturally when I read that the KempeGowda International Airport, Devanahalli (KIAD) halt train station had started operating on Monday, I wanted to try taking the direct train to the airport. However, with just five sets of trains available, trains leaving at unearthly hours, no official information available on the IRCTC app and ill-informed station staff, the journey turned out to be more testing then I had expected.
A rocky start
On Wednesday, I reached the Yesvantpur train station at 8:10am, glad that I had 20 minutes to locate the train and get on it. But as I walked up to buy my ticket at the counter, the man handed me a Rs20 ticket instead of a Rs 10 one and gave me a nonchalant shrug when I asked him where the platform was.
I rushed from platform to platform, asking where my train was scheduled to arrive. There were no boards in view and no information on which platform the train was to arrive online. No one on the station seemed to know there was a train going to the airport and most people advised me to get off at Magestic and take a bus to the airport. I came back disappointed yet determined to try again.
Cantonment Railway Station
On Thursday, 3:15 pm I set off again, this time with over 2 hours at hand. According to the train schedule published online, a train for the airport was supposed to leave from Cantonment at 5:55pm. I took a Rapido from HSR, to the station, 14 km away. I arrived at the railway station after one wrong turn, two near accidents, and a long argument with a bus driver and at 4:20 pm still with 1 hour 35 mins at hand.
Cantonment Railway station has 3 platforms. Platform 2 can be accessed by crossing an over bridge from platform 1 while platform 3 is slightly more hidden from view. My train 06269, was supposed to arrive at platform 3. Thankfully a police man at the station helped me find the platform. Unlike at Yesvantpur station, the staff at Cantonment Railway station seemed fairly familiar with the train schedule. To go to platform 3 from platform 1, you must walk to the end of platform 2 and turn left towards the ticket counters. The platform however is closer when you enter from the terminal 2 entrance.
There are two ticket counters at the station, one near platform 1 and the other near platform 3. Both open at 5:15 pm for the Bangerpett train. The station was more or less empty with people behaving in an orderly manner, however, no extra measures were being taken by the staff to maintain physical distancing.
The passengers
Each alternate seat had been marked with a red cross to ensure a safe journey, however, the low number of passengers made this an unnecessary measure. In fact the compartment I first got onto was completely empty as were the two compartments next to it.
The whole train was strangely quiet and most passengers I spoke to were headed to Chikkaballapur not KIAD. Just as the train started I came across Sindhu and Shyam, who were taking the train to the airport for the first time with two of their friends. The group was staying at hampi nagar just 6 km from the station and decided to take the train to the airport since they had a flight to catch at 8:30. However, the group had been having a hard time finding the train.
“They didn’t update any of the boards and we didn’t even know where terminal 3 was”, said Sindhu, a software engineer from Mysore. “We decided to take the train since we have very little luggage with us, but it turned out to be a hassle. There isn’t even any option to book tickets online.” Her friend Shyam Sunder who works at ITC added
However, Naris Jain, a slightly older passenger, seemed rather pleased with the train service. “I am going to the airport to pick up my brother. This is the most comfortable journey, you don’t have to worry about traffic and there is a return train at 10 pm. It is better than taking a bus or a taxi, before they started the train you ended up paying over Rs1000 just travelling to and from the airport”, he said.
The train Journey
The train journey started at 5:55, exactly as it was supposed to. The train took the Bangalore East- Baiyyappanhalli- Devanahalli route, with one minute stops at each station and a 10 minute halt at Yelahanka. The KIAD station was the 6th stop on the route. However, the irctc app hasn’t been updated yet and couldn’t be used to track the journey.
With no announcements being made and no rail official on board, the passengers had to rely on the sign boards at each station to know where they were. However, once the train had passed Yelahanka station at 6:34, this became a problem since the stations beyond this point had no light. A group of people even got down at Dodjala station instead of KIAD on the advice of another passenger, but were able to hop back on board before the train started.
KIAD Halt Station
KIAD halt station lies between Dodjala station and Devanahalli station. Though the platform seemed empty at 7pm when we reached, I was glad to see a man in a florescent jacket waiting to guide us to the shuttle bus to the airport. Though we were hurried off to the bus immediately, I noticed the train station had a few granite benches near the platform, a small stall to buy snacks from and a place where you could get drinking water.
Shuttle service
Since the airport is 3.5 km away from the railway station, the airport provides a free shuttle bus service for passengers. We were led to an ac bus with comfortable reclining seats. There were a total of 9 people including me who got on the bus, the group of four I had previously spoken to, four solo travelers and me. The bus had overhead storage spaces for the luggage as well as extra storage space in the front of the bus. We reached the airport around 7:25.
The Bus vs Train Debate
The whole journey from HSR to the airport took 2hrs 30 mins for me out of which I spent an hour travelling to the railway station. On the other hand my bus journey on the way back took me a little over 1hr 20 minutes since I was lucky enough to not face any major traffic jams on my way back.
Bus tickets can be booked online, while train tickets must be booked at the station. I wouldn’t consider this a major inconvenience since it usually doesn’t take a long time to book a ticket.
However, the train fare was a mere Rs 10 while the bust ticket cost me Rs260. The train turned out to be the cheaper option for me even after taking the Rs160 spent travelling to the railway station.
In terms of social distancing and covid safety measures, the train ride was clearly a winner, simply because it had larger compartments and fewer people. Buses at the airport have to wait to be filled up before they can leave, making them highly congested spaces. Furthermore no precautionary measures are being taken on these buses at the moment making them rather unsafe.
The major inconveniences faced by me were due to the fact that the boards at the station, IRCTC app and Google Maps hasn’t been updated after the train was launched and that the frequency of trains going to KIAD is ridiculously low. However, these are all teething problems and we may hope that they are soon overcome.
