High expectations of people in the coastal region that Minister for Railways D.V. Sadananda Gowda, who too hails from the region, would sanction a Railway division for Mangalore or at least bring Mangalore region under Konkan Railway, have remained unfulfilled.
The Railway Budget 2014-15 presented on Tuesday did not address this demand, for which the Minister himself had been fighting during his earlier roles.
The only breather in this direction is the proposal to double the line between Ullal-Mangalore-Surathkal, which may be construed as a step towards bringing Mangalore region under Konkan Railway.
What could soothe the ruffled feelings of coastal people, is the announcement of a daily express train service between Mangalore and Bangalore.
Meanwhile Dakshina Kannada in-charge Minister Ramanath Rai on Tuesday said the achievement of the railway budget was that it had kept the dream of separate Mangalore Division a “dream.”
He said there were high hopes that Railway Minister D.V. Sanandanda Gowda would announce the formation of a new division. The BJP had made tall promises, he said. There was nothing new in the budget, he added.
The budget had announced the operation of a passenger train between Kasaragod and Byndoor via Mangalore. However, demands of Paschima Karavali Rail Yatri Abhibriddhi Samithi for direct trains to New Delhi, Ahmadabad, Hyderabad etc., were not addressed even as its strong demand to reintroduce Mahalakshmi Express to Miraj via Hubli that was discontinued before gauge conversion, too was not met with.
Though Mr. Gowda was miserly in sanctioning new projects, he announced two new line surveys connecting the region. The first one was between Mangalore-Sringeri-Shimoga to provide direct connectivity to Shimoga and beyond.
Coastal Karnataka in budget
Bangalore-Mangalore daily express
Byndoor-Kasargod passenger daily
Shimoga-Sringeri-Mangalore new line survey
Kaniyur-Panathur-Kanhangad new line survey
Ullal-Mangalore-Surathkal line doubling
