Written by Pathi Venkata Thadhagath | Edited by Chandrashekar Srinivasan
Citizen groups in Bengaluru have taken a newly launched MEMU (Mainline Electric Multiple Unit) train to the airport in order to encourage air passengers to opt for public transport while going to and from the airport. Travel time to Kempegowda International Airport – which is roughly a two-hour drive from the city – can be as little as 50 minutes, if travellers choose to go by the MEMU.
Around 170 citizens, including students, took the train to the airport from Cantonment railway station in Bengaluru on Saturday as part of Airport Train Yatra, a social campaign to encourage citizens to use train service to the airport. The citizen group, Namma Bengaluru took to social media and wrote “Today we had an #airporttrainyatra of @Namma_Bengaluru volunteers who took the suburban rail to the @BLRAirport. 170 citizens/students took the train from Blru Cantonment and back.(Sic)”
Many senior citizens and children in Bengaluru also participated in the train journey and urged people to take public transport while travelling to and from the airport.
The MEMU trains became operational in July and Indian Railways said these would run six days a week from different stations in the country. These are significantly cheaper for passengers as the Bengaluru airport express train fare is set at ₹30 – ₹35 per head. This compares to BMTC Vayu Vajra’s average fare of around ₹200 – ₹500 and cab fares through ride-hailing apps that can cost over ₹2,000 depending on the location in the city.
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