Ahead of the Railway Budget 2015-16 to be presented on February 26, various activists working for improving the railway network in coastal Karnataka have urged the Railway Ministry to address some of the long-pending demands of the region with regard to connectivity as well as creation of a separate Railway Division in Mangaluru.
The Pashchima Karavali Rail Yatri Abhivriddhi Samithi, which has been taking up the cause of the region, has submitted a list of demands to the Railway Minister through the Lok Sabha members of the region.
Samithi Convener Anil Hegde told The Hindu that important among the demands were: upgrading Mangalore Central Railway Station to world-class standards; reintroduction of Mangalore Central-Miraj Mahalakshmi Express via Arsikere and creation of separate Railway Division at Mangaluru. Creation of the Railway Division or its merger with the Konkan Railway Corporation would give a much-needed fillip, he said.
New terminal
Since not many new trains could be started from Mangalore Central, the Railways should think of using Subrahmanya Road Station as a terminal station and introduce new services. Services to New Delhi via Mangaluru, Madgaon and Vadodara, and Hubballi via Madgaon should be started from Subrahmanya Road, he said. Similarly, new trains should be introduced from Mangaluru to Hyderabad via Arsikere and Chikkajajur; overnight Express train to Vijayapura via Madgaon, Londa and Hubli; overnight Express train to Bengaluru via Arsikere; super fast AC Express to Mumbai and Rameshwaram via Salem; Vasco-da-Gama to Chennai via Mangaluru, are the other demands.
Services of some of the existing trains should be extended to cater to the requirements of the coastal region, Mr. Hegde said. Mangaluru-Thiruvananthapuram Maveli Express should be extended to Kanyakumari; Hapa-Madgaon Express to Mangalore Central, Mangaluru-Madgaon Intercity Express to Hubballi and Mangaluru-Madgaon Passenger to Vasco-da-Gama. Besides making the Yeshwantpur-Karwar tri-weekly day express as a daily service, it should partially be extended to Hubballi after splitting the train at Arsikere, the Samithi demanded.
The Samithi has also urged the Railway Ministry to augment the Railway infrastructure in the region. Also, work on Bengaluru-Hassan new line should be expedited, the Samithi demanded.
