Karnataka Chief Minister (CM) Basavaraj Bommai revealed that wheels have been set in motion for the plans to conduct a high-speed rail link (HSRL) between Bengaluru and the Kempagowda International Airport.

Upon the completion of this project, the Bengaluru Airport will be uniquely interconnected by through three rail lines -- the metro, the suburban as well as the high-speed train.

In fact, the proposed 37 kilometres long HSRL project corridor can cut down the travelling period between the airport and the city centre to merely 20 minutes, Financial Express reports.

The Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) is anticipated to roll out a tender for the KR Puram-Kempegowda International Airport corridor linking the city to the Bengaluru airport in October.

Subsequently, the Bengaluru City-Yelahanka-Devanahalli corridor of the suburban railway, which was approved by the Union Cabinet last year, will be taken up in the next phase only.

The high-speed rail connectivity project was first put forth in 2001 and got major impetus between from 2006-2011 before it was sort of sidelined in favour of the Phase-2 Metro project.

However, the recently appointed CM on the state has indicated that the project could be mainstreamed again by reiterating that the airport will be connected to the city centre with a high-speed train.

Earlier, the project was slated to be implemented through the PPP (public-private partnership) model by the central and the Karnataka governments with funding from the Japan Bank for International Co-operation and the private consortia. However, the future course of its execution remains to be seen now.