Title - Bangaloreans prefer trains over flights

BANGALORE: Despite budget airlines and greater air connectivity, Indian Railways remains the most preferred mode of travel. A trend in Google shows there are more people searching for train tickets in the country than for air tickets. Bangalore ranks third in the online searches for rail tickets while it figures only at No.8 among top 10 cities looking for air tickets.Google Trends shows more demand for rail journeys in the top 10 cities compared to flights between January 2006 and November 2012. Also, Karnataka ranks third when searches for train tickets are compared in sub-region wise data put together but ranks fourth in airline ticket searches. This pretty much shows there are more people on a given day who travel by train than by air.The reasons are not too far to seek. People who travel from the city to Chennai, Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Hyderabad find it easier to travel by train because there are more trains to these destinations. Also, the distance between the city and the international airport is about 45km. So effectively, people have to take a taxi or a shuttle service and this doesn't necessarily cut down on time.Even to travel to other districts in the north and west of Karnataka, there are good roads and buses and rail-road infrastructure that is cheaper than travelling by air. Karnataka has only five airports, of which Bangalore and Mangalore airports witness heavy air traffic.

In terms of search volumes for train tickets, Hyderabad tops the list of 10 cities. It's followed by Chennai, Bangalore, Coimbatore, Mumbai and New Delhi for searches during the six-year period. Mumbai witnessed the highest volume of searches for air tickets, followed by New Delhi, Mahape (in Navi Mumbai), Surat, Gurgaon and others. Bangalore figures eighth in the list, after Ludhiana and Noida. Incidentally, Hyderabad figures last when it comes to search volumes on air tickets from the city.

QUOTE HANGER:

I live in Marathahalli and need to travel to Chennai frequently. It doesn't make sense for me to travel all the way to BIA and take a flight. It's so much easier by bus or train. Moreover, travelling by air is a costly affair and for the common man, train is the cheapest mode always. My ailing parents prefer to take a train to Chennai from KR Puram station, which is very close to my house.

Vinod S, market researcher