The South Western Railway has commenced preparations in full swing to launch various new trains, including the much-sought after Bangalore-Mangalore express train, announced by Minister for Railways D.V. Sadananda Gowda in the 2014-15 Railway Budget.
Sources in the Bangalore Division of South Western Railway (SWR) told The Hindu that the new train would most likely be a day-train to be operated via Mysore on the path of Train No. 16517/16523 Yeshwantpur-Kannur/Karwar night express. The schedule was yet to be finalised, while tentatively it has been decided to start the train from Bangalore at 8.30 a.m., the sources said.
However, a top official at the SWR headquarters said the route and schedule were yet to be finalised. It was left to the Minister, he said.
As per the speed and other restrictions imposed by the Commissioner for Railway Safety, operating one more train on the stretch was almost difficult, he said. Besides, no railway crossing was available on the ghat stretch — which would have helped the Railways scale up operations.
At the same time, the Railways cannot forgo operations of freight trains as they are the ones earning income. A balance had to be struck between freight and passenger trains as the Railways had to cater to passenger demands too, the official said.
As such, the SWR would be approaching the Commissioner for Railway Safety to ease restrictions on operating trains on the ghat section [by enabling crossings on en route stations on the ghat].
The issue of starting new trains announced in the budget was discussed at the timetable committee meeting of the Railway Board held in New Delhi on Monday and Tuesday, the official said.
The Paschima Karavali Railway Abhivriddhi Samithi, which has been demanding more trains between Bangalore and Mangalore, however, is not happy with the outcome. “We wanted an overnight train on the shortest (via Arsikere) route,” said Anil Hegde, advisor of the samithi.
