http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24460995-5002031,00.html<SIXTY years ago, India's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru called Bangalore "the city of the future. Certainly its metamorphosis from sleepy South India garrison town to a pivotal role as the world's back office has been one of the defining stories in India's transition to modernity. But there has been a cost. The leafy pensioners' paradise of old, blessed with a cool climate courtesy of its 900m altitude, has given way to a rambunctious, high-speed, high-priced city of seven million, its infrastructure groaning at the seams.... HAL's only saving grace was a location just 10km east of the city centre. That's why the opening of a new international airport at the end of May carried great expectations, even though its location 40km north of Bangalore and 70km from the hi-tech action around Electronics City, well to the south, brought grumbles about a long commute...It's still a lengthy commute, of course: 50 minutes to my northside hotel at night and about an hour each for two daytime trips. No such luck for southside users: they are looking at 75-120 minutes, depending on traffic congestion...By 2012, Bangalore may well have a functioning rapid transit system. But for now it's just an annoying work-in-progress....Note for the future: the Oberoi Group will open a 320-room hotel at the airport by late 2009. Work on a high-speed rail link from the city centre may start next year. >
Terminal velocity Geoff Hiscock tests the efficient new Bangalore airport,
entry point to India's Silicon Valley
