So looks like the demand for keeping HAL airport open has died down a bit. Any news around that recently? May be the controversy will reopen once BIAL opens.

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In what can be a boon to Bangaloreans and air travellers in particular, the detailed project report of a high speed rail link from Cubbon Road to the upcoming Bangalore International Airport at Devanahalli has been submitted to the government. Prepared by Delhi Metro Rail Corporation for Infrastructure Development Corporation, Government of Karnataka, the rail link costing Rs 3,716 crore will enable passengers to reach Devanahalli from Cubbon Road in 25 minutes flat as against 75 to 90 minutes by road. This was revealed by S N Venkata Rao, advisor and project director, DMRC during the 44th MEA Commemoration lecture on ‘High speed rail link from city centre to new international airport at Bangalore (Devanahalli)’ on Saturday. Air terminals According to Mr Rao if the project gets the approval from the government, initially 10 trains at a frequency of 10 minutes will ferry passengers from check-in-station at Cubbon Road to the internodal transport station at Hebbal, from where it will move to Yelahanka and will finally reach the airport terminal at a maximum speed of 160 km per hour. “Two city air terminals have been planned, where air passengers can check in and take boarding passes at the police ground between M G Road and Cubbon Road and beyond Hebbal flyover. This project will not interfere with the Bangalore metro rail project.” “However, 231 trees on the proposed alignment of the rail link will have to be cut and 375 trees on a private farm land at the entry of the new airport will have to be pruned”. By 2011 the estimated air traffic at the new airport per annum will be 17.2 million and rail passengers will be 40,753 per day, Mr Rao added. http://www.deccanherald.com/Content/Oct282007/city2007102832812.asp

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MG road is going to be one heck of a busy area. and here we were dreaming of pedestrianizing the place. it might be worthwhile to take a look at all the roads converging on police grounds. MG Road is going to be the new majestic. right now we know in both reports there are a lot of common places. what does "this project will not interfere with the Bangalore metro rail project.” wouldn't it be better if what goes to metro is actually a metro? fully integrated? it might be useful to map CTTP with this as further details evolve. I guess 45 min to do ~40kms on a > 100 km/hr train is due to the loading at hebbal. it is also interesting that they will replicate services as BIAL. so what happens when BIAL goes full phase and does 40 mil pass/year? they will expand these stations too? or prolly they'll open new stations. again perhaps if they integrate with metro then metro stations can be upgraded. ofcourse all this is going to a lot of time, remember this report in the Hindu? “The Infrastructure Department requires at least 18 to 24 months for getting clearances from various departments and work on the project will start only after that,” the sources said. The project would take at least three years to be completed. Notifications for land acquisition and construction work of the project would be issued only after obtaining clearance from the Union and State government departments. To avoid any possible delay in commissioning the project due to litigation and resistance from the public, there would be minimum land acquisition, the sources said."

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Heard they are pricing the tickets for the airport trip at 200 Rs.!! Whats so special about this train that the cost is so exorbitant..it might be a exclusive airport connectivity option.. but we should be more placing this on the commuter/metro rail level..providing connectivity to that part of bangalore(hebbal/yelahanka) to reach Bangalore! Around the world, I dont think airports trains are treated any special than the local metro.. In Boston, it costs 1.75$ only to travel on Red Line from Alewife/Braintree or any other line and change to sliverline/blue line to get to the airport..this is the normal charge for any train ride! More so with the air travel prices coming down, the commute to the airport should not compete with the air ticket cost!! ..and about added services like remote check-in..its the airline who will do that and pay for it.. Technically it should be that..if one wants to reach airport from nayandahalli(mysore road)..all one needs to do is hop on the metro there and get to airport in less than an hour paying not more than 50Rs.

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that is insider news man. where did you get that? that is absolutely correct. north bangalore and the growth that is already hapenning around devanahalli and will happen by 2025 all along the corridor. remote check in. i dont understand why they need to duplicate a service that is already in place at the airport? i dunno if it is scalable. and cannot imagine the impact of this on hebbal and mg road stations. any ideas?

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I believe the airport rail link will be a dedicated high speed link with only sitting arrangement for all commuters & city check-in facilities at MG Rd & Hebbal stations (baggage screening, issue of boarding cards, etc) to make it convenient. Passengers would not like to spend perhaps an hour & a half for commute by regular metro that stops frequently en-route to town after they arrive or before departure. Besides, on regular metros, it may not be permitted to carry heavy luggage or hand luggage (as in Delhi, a security risk) & it may be inconvenient to commute to airport even with hand luggage since coaches are designed with few seats & majority standing areas. From news reports, what I think they mean when they say that it will not interfere with metro is that the trackage will be separate & independent (since it will have different specs, being high speed) & also that it will not hamper construction of the ongoing metro rail viaducts at any stage. This may be similar to the city check-in facilities that Jet airways has/had. The system may be similar to the one at Shanghai (the first commercial Maglev train) from Pudong airport to downtown (some 30kms) that does it in 22 mins flat. Since they plan to provide a dedicated airport rail to town link, the metro may not operate to airport, but will probably run till Yelahanka, as per CTTP. Also, the cost for a dedicated airport link is expected to be higher as it is a dedicated, fast service. Even at Mumbai, earlier they had a bus from airport terminal/s to downtown /Fort that was then costing Rs.50/- (1990). In London, they have bus services between Heathrow & Gatwick airports that costs 20$ or 10 pounds. Exorbitant ! The rail link will take time & some reports earlier stated that they are planning to remodel some Volvo bus interiors for ferrying passengers to airport from various pickup points in town, including star hotels. When the rail link is operational, the buses may run to MG Rd & Hebbal airport link stations. One may also be able to use the metro to reach MG Rd airport rail station & transfer there to it, I guess. For this, they would need to provide a concourse from Cricket stadium station to Police grounds since MG Rd metro station (at Plaza) would be too far.

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thanks. that makes sense. still wonder what this means for kumbLe circle. source deccanherald epaper oct 28,2007 Advantages... *Travel will be trouble free, comfortable, air conditioned & safe * Airport can be reached in assured time * Saves Energy * Air Travellers can check in at the city center and take the boarding pass reducing rush to the airport * No atmospheric pollution * Saves 15 million liters of fuel per annum From to rate Cubbon Road - International Airport - Rs 200 Hebbal - International Airport - Rs 150 Yelahanka - International Airport - Rs 100 * Monthly season tickets will be priced at Rs 50 per journey and Rs 2,000 per month.

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Five months ahead of the international airport's take-off in Devanahalli, the Bangalore International Airport Limited has raised concerns about bottlenecks in connectivity to the airport. Speaking at a round table conference organised by the Bangalore Chamber of Industry and Commerce on connectivity to the airport, BIAL CEO Albert Brunner said the airport promoters were being blamed for “being on time.” Speaking on work on the trumpet interchange on NH 7 near the airport, Brunner said BIAL had to take up the work because the contractor nominated by the National Highways Authority of India — the original builders of the interchange — “had not even built a bridge”. “We had commissioned L&T for work on the interchange, but it had to be stopped because NHAI has come up with a plan to make NH 7 an eight-lane highway,” Brunner told reporters. V P Baligar, Principal Secretary, Infrastructure Development Department, said the issue would be “sorted out” soon. “If the NH expansion plan involves more land acquisition, it will take another three years to materialise,” Baligar said. He said the State had last week managed to clear the litigation tangle on one of the three Rail Over Bridges in the interchange. HAL Airport Brunner said keeping the HAL Airport alive as a transition buffer would lead to legal issues involving concessionaires and added that two airports would “confuse” the airlines and also lead to stunted growth. Reacting to a suggestion to retain the HAL Airport as a satellite check-in terminal for bus services to the new airport, Brunner said the facility should also be complemented by fast on-road connectivity. Unfair taxi rates The BIAL CEO addressed concerns over potentially unfair taxi rates to and from the airport saying the BIAL would ensure the concessionaires followed quality and pricing standards. All through the conference, delegates pointed out that distance to the new airport and infrastructure pitfalls, including the largely unlit NH 7 (Bellary Road), were issues that required immediate redressal. BMTC: * 40 low-floor Volvos with 33-passenger (with baggage) capacity each * 24/7 services; bus ramps for wheelchair access * Check-ins at Shantinagar, HSR Layout depots mooted Railways/PWD: * 33.5-km elevated rail link *State Highway (Special) from ORR * Development of 46 roads at Rs 1,000 crore BBMP BBMP: * Widening roads between Vidhana Soudha and Hebbal * 7.5-m service roads between Hebbal flyover and Sanjaynagar Cross * Readymade underpasses at choke points http://www.deccanherald.com/Content/Oct312007/city2007103133336.asp

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Connectivity To The New Bangalore Airport
Some discussions at a round table conference organised by the Bangalore Chamber of Industry and Commerce on the BIAL's how to get there problem - including trumpet exchange, HAL, HAL-BIAL airshuttle, Taxi, and efforts by BMTC, BBMP and PWD.

Trumpet interchange
The two loops — one from the airport towards the city and the other from Devanahalli side to the airport — will be ready.

The third, from the city in to the airport, was caught up in litigation and was cleared only last week.

With construction of the loop from the city towards the airport (which also includes construction of an inner loop from the airport towards Devanahalli) likely to be delayed for over a year, traffic from the city has to take a ‘U’ turn after the interchange and enter the airport through the loop from Devanahalli side, Mr. Baligar said.

Initially being planned and executed by the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI), the interchange is now being executed by the Bangalore International Airport Authority Limited (BIAL).

Speaking on work on the trumpet interchange on NH 7 near the airport, Brunner said BIAL had to take up the work because the contractor nominated by the National Highways Authority of India — the original builders of the interchange — “had not even built a bridge”. “We had commissioned L&T for work on the interchange, but it had to be stopped because NHAI has come up with a plan to make NH 7 an eight-lane highway,” Brunner told reporters.

V P Baligar, Principal Secretary, Infrastructure Development Department, said the issue would be “sorted out” soon. “If the NH expansion plan involves more land acquisition, it will take another three years to materialise,” Baligar said.

HAL-BIAL Air Shuttle
Those who value their time can opt the HAL airport-Devanahalli transfer by air at Rs 1,500 per ticket. The government has worked out a deal with the BIAL on this. However, this may be available for only premium class passengers.

--------------------------
Sources:
Deccan Herald
The Hindu
The Times of India

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sorry narayan for the repeat.

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1. Wider roads - how much wider? where is the land? 2. Expressway - above question remains as to how to reach the wide dedicated road! 3. Aircraft shuttles(from HAL) - interesting..but will involve too much time and money 4. Rail - wait is for clearence - BMRC is finding it hard to find engineers for the metro, who will work for this project? With all the issues with Rail, its still the best option! Hope sense prevails and the clearences are accelerated and we can get some forign cosultant engineers for implementation and have the rail ready in record time (Before Madhu can start paying first sallaries to his engineers)

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This is yet another example of the continuing & ongoing story of the laid back approach by all concerned in Karnataka. For decades, politicians & bureaucrats have all the time been neglecting the city's infrastructure & 'talking the talk' about improving things while they were in power but expecting the action to 'happen' without too much effort. The Krishna govt was the only one that took determined steps to at least, clear the back log, involve industry & complete the ring road & push for flyovers. When it was clear a long time ago that BIAL, being a consortium of private interests, would not delay the project to prevent cost overruns, what was the state machinery doing ? Why could they not push harder to clear hurdles & start the express way project earlier when they knew that the airport will soon be a reality ? Even now, they are yet to freeze alignments for the expressway & it will probably never get done with mounting opposition from landowners. In sharp contrast, the 8-lane airport expressway at Hyderabad is already in place, though the airport is still a few months away from completion. This lethargy & lack of will is going to manifest itself again soon. By the time Metro phase-1 is completed, it may not be enough to meet the growing demands & they will find that compromises will need to be made in planning alignments for future metro phases due to "land acquisition problems", "opposition" & "litigation". So, the alignments will not be what is actually required for the city, but a watered down version which may not help much in reducing road congestion. And so, the story goes on....without any end in sight.

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Now that mud has been slung at each other, it's time to find some way out of this. The expressway is not the issue for me. The expressway does not start from the centre of Bangalore, and so will not speed up the trip to the airport. I also think far too much noise is being made on the distance from Electronics city to the Airport. I am not too sure too many of the people working in EC do the sort of work that require them to travel on a daily or weekly basis. The first thing they need to sort out is the safety aspect of the road. There are no streetlights for most of the way. There are no pedestrian overbridges. There is a disaster waiting to happen at the Yelahanka bypass, where vehicles cut across the road. there is no lane discipline. I hate to make this sort of prediction, but I can see a fair number of bad accidents on this road. They need to improve the ORR (well surfaced, well lit) and have grade separators at critical points so that traffic can branch off at Hebbal. A rail link from Majestic/Cantonment is certainly not impossible. They have sat on their back sides for 3 years now. What did they think - that the problem would just vanish on it's own. Doubling 30-40 km of line in a year is not unheard off. the dedicated rail link is cost prohibitive. the current passenger traffic seems too low. 30000 a day - let's say 1/2 use rail. 15000 a day in both directions. A train every 15 mins - about 300 trips a day. each ride will carry about 50 people. Double that for accompanying people. Still only 100-150 people per trip. the train makes sense only at a 40 million passenger level when you could have 400-500 per train. And the costs would work out. Having said all this, if they start planning for the train now, it will be ready when the passenger traffic hits 40 million if not 50 million. Albert Brunner must be wondering why he too this job at all!! Srivathsa

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Its evident in all of us.. About the railways helping here..whats the raliways growth in Karnataka? It doesnt even feature in Lalu's budjet speech! Devegowda has a rail laid out to his dist. where no trains run or stop! Thats one reason why we have so many busses..most Volvo's! So we cannot expect railways to pitch in.. I still want to pitch in for the dedicated rail..but more made on the metro lines..add 3-4 more stops..which will provide the numbers needed and costed also on those lines.. Better still..ALbert Brunner had once talked about assisting in laying the rail..ask him to do so at least now!

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i dunno if those morons are even concerned at all, but 2-3 years of political instability has taken a toll on KA in general and BLR in particular. and while we are still sorting out the fundamentals, other are thinking about their future and making plans for us too. (check karunanidhi's call for chennai-bangalore industrial corridor) meanwhile something is wrong with the BIAL website it is showing some progress but is dated July 2007.

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Our friend finds the dedicated rail options cost intensive and finds converting the existing train route easier.. Alas, only if we could get a govt in place fast to listen!! ..MOU's are being made and reviewed for govt formation.. and then some one sits at Vidhana Souda..celebrates and by that time the airport will be open and the ministers will be struck in a jam and the blame game begins!

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Construction progress update for October 2007 The highlight this month included the commissioning of passenger boarding bridges, transformers, CCTV cameras, fire alarm system in the terminal building. Elevators were commissioned at both, the terminal building as well as the Air Traffic Control building. Airfield lights commissioning continued at the airside. The Terminal building The external painting of the west wall of the building continued. The works within the terminal building including the flooring, glass cladding of the columns, glass façade installations are nearing completion. The glass cladding for the 8 fixed links are in progress Installation work on other facilities like the elevators and escalators, automatic doors, check in counter, baggage handling system are continuing. The work within the duty free and food and beverage area on the first floor of the terminal building is gaining momentum. Airside Works The approach light work having been concluded at the runway, the work on the taxiway lights instillations is now nearing completion. In addition, the instillation of light poles for the airside wall illumination is nearing completion. Cabling works for these are now in progress. On the Apron area, laying of the final concrete layer is nearing completion. Other buildings & infrastructure -At the ATC tower, the aluminium composite panel (ACP) cladding and glass fixing works are nearing completion. -The earthworks for the main access road outside the boundary wall of the airport are nearing completion. Landscaping works along the main access road have now commenced. -Nav-Aid (navigation aid) buildings: All the Nav-Aid buildings are nearly completed and are ready to be handed over to the Airports Authority of India.

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Yesterday's TOI had some news about some high powered committee to look into the connectivity problems. There was again a demand to keep the HAL airport open till connectivity issues are sorted out. This is opening a can of worms. I think Albert Brunner is spot on. Unless there is pain in the system and a crisis, things wont move. Keeping HAL airport open is not a simple option. Which airlines continue? To which cities? Why only Madras and Hyderabad? Why not Delhi and Bombay? (after all the same argument holds - why should one spend 3 hours travelling on the road for a 2.5 hr flight)? What about air safety issues? Who will coordinate the two ATCs? Most interesting! Srivathsa

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agree with sri... it's short term thinking. you dont solve any problems by keeping HAL open. infact you only undermine a possible solution to BLR's mess by toying with it. here is the toi report, nov 6,2007 With the completion deadline of the Bangalore International Airport (BIAL) looming large and the infrastructure connecting the city to its new airport being woefully underdone, industry heads are using their muscle power to work out an immediate solution. Sources have told The Times of India that a task force is being formed by the captains of industry, Airports Authority of India (AAI), BIAL, HAL, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce and Industries (FKCCI), Bangalore Chambers of Commerce (BCIC), the travel and trade community and citizens’ forums to look into the connectivity to the new international airport. T Ramappa, secretary general of BCIC, said: “A strong proposal to set up a task force for connectivity came up at the trade body meeting held recently which was also attended by state government officials including infrastructure secretary V P Baligar. The consensus was to go ahead with the plan provided the government gives it a formal clearance. The first meeting of this task force is likely to be held next week. BIAL sources said there has been an in-principle approval from secretaries of all infrastructure bodies for the formation of the task force, which is likely to be headed by BIAL CEO Albert Brunner. Industry heads are also pressing the BIAL and HAL to keep the HAL airport open. (With inputs from Mini Joseph Tejaswi) ‘HAL airport must be kept open’ Bangalore: The HAL airport will be closed once the new international airport comes up. But industry heads are pressing the BIAL and HAL to keep it open. This proposal was debated at a recent trade body meeting with the government officials. “Bangalore-based industry chiefs like Biocon CMD Kiran Mazumdar Shaw and I will meet BIAL and HAL on November 17 to examine the possibility of keeping the HAL airport open even after BIAL starts operations,” Deccan Aviation executive chairman Capt G R Gopinath said. Sources hinted that this might well be the first meeting of the task force to be formed on the new airport connectivity. “We know it may not be feasible to keep two airports functional, but there are no proper roads connecting us to BIAL. This matter should be treated with a sense of immediacy,” Kiran Mazumdar Shaw said. Bangalore reported an overall growth of 38% air traffic this year — the highest rate of all airports in India. It’s probably what prompted civil aviation minister Praful Patel to tell TOI at the sidelines of an Economic Times CEO Round Table held last month: “There is no doubt about the fact that Bangalore needs two airports.” But infrastructure secretary V P Baligar has stated that the move to keep both airports open is not feasible. “We have to respect the commitment we made to BIAL or else it could affect future investment in this arena in the state. Besides, roads around Devanahalli like SH 104 and NH 208 are developed and the trumpet flyover should be ready soon,” he said, stating that they’re open to other suggestions. Gopinath has proposed that HAL hive off the civilian operations from its defence needs and allow BIAL to pick up stake in the civilian operations. Another proposal is to let HAL be open for short haul flights.

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sri can we move the discussion to this page? http://bangalore.praja.in/2007/11/07/bial-updates-october-2007

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