Bengaluru: After a long delay, South Western Railway will resume two pairs of Demu services to and from the halt station near Kempegowda International Airport on Wednesday. SWR officials said they decided to reintroduce two pairs of Demu services (four trains): 06387 KSR Bengaluru-Kolar, 06388 Kolar-Bengaluru Cantonment, 06383 Channapatna-Kolar Demu and 06384 Kolar-Channapatna. On September 23, TOI published an article on the delay: ‘Five months on, Bengaluru airport halt station unused as trains suspended’. SWR operated 10 trains every day to and from KIA halt station when it was inaugurated on January 4. However, services were suspended in April-end due to poor patronage during the Covid-19 second wave. However, activists say poor frequency of trains and lack of awareness are to blame. The halt station located 3.5km from the KIA terminal was built by Bangalore International Airport Limited at a cost of around Rs 3 crore and aimed at benefiting 28,000 airport employees as well as passengers. BIAL also operated free shuttle bus services between the station and terminal.
