Bengaluru Metro’s airport line will have daily ridership of 2.5L; Hebbal station to have highest footfall & HRBR Layout lowest

BENGALURU: The much-delayed airport Metro line is finally taking shape and the BMRCL is hoping that its daily ridership on the route will be around 2.5 lakh.
Data sourced by TOI reveals that KR Puram-Kempegowda International Airport (KIA), which will be operational by 2023, will have 17 Metro stations, of which Hebbal is likely to have the highest daily ridership with 35,924.It is followed by KR Puram (32,818), Nagawara (27,945) and airport terminal (21,132) Metro stations.
At present, about 4 lakh passengers travel on Purple and Green Lines a day. On the airport Metro Line, Hebbal is likely to become multi-modal hub, with its proximity to the BMTC bus depot, KR Puram-KIA Metro line and Hebbal-JP Nagar (phase 3), suburban railway station and flyovers, and is expected to be a busiest station for airport-bound passengers. Hebbal will also be one of the nearest Metro stations on this line from the Central Business District so that KIA-bound passengers from core city areas can travel without any switchovers.
KR Puram will be an interchange station connecting three corridors: Silk Board-KR Puram, Byappanahalli-Whitefield and KR Puram-KIA. The suburban rail’s Kengeri-Whitefield corridor also passes through KR Puram. Nagawara is another interchange station for Gottigere-Nagawara, KR Puram-KIA and Aerospace Park-Nagawara (phase 3) lines.
Underground stations on KIA premises
Two underground stations will also come up on KIA premises. The airport terminal Metro station will be the main underground station and another one—KIA West (Sky Garden station) —will have around 2,892 daily passengers, mostly for staff working at the airport.
Other major stations in terms of daily ridership include Jakkur Cross (19,753), Yelahanka (18,052), HBR Layout (16,341), Kempapura (14,145), Veerannapalya (11,507), Kodigehalli (11,029), Horamavu (9,909), Bagalur/PRR (6,010), Kalyan Nagar (5,286), Trumpet Junction (3,962), Channasandra (3,958), KIA West and HRBR Layout (2,824).
Stations like Jakkur, Yelahanka, Kodigehalli, Horamavu and Bagalur pass through residential pockets where several apartment complexes have come up. However, BMRCL has dropped Kasturi Nagar station from the proposed alignment. According to earlier plan, Kasturi Nagar station was supposed to come up between KR Puram and Channasandra stations. The Metro link to KIA is crucial as air passengers now are dependent on either BMTC’s Vayu Vajra buses or cabs. The number of passengers using KIA to increase from 22.19 million in 2016 to 40 million in 2020 after the construction of the second runway.