Kunjal Venkatesh Kini, who was recently appointed member of the National Railway Users’ Consultative Council (NRUCC) of the Railway Board, has urged the Railways to reroute Bengaluru-Karwar night express train via the newly commissioned Bengaluru-Hassan line.
In a letter to the South Western Railway’s General Manager, Mr. Kini, a businessman from Byndoor, said that Karwar appears to be the only place in the State which lacks speedy train connectivity.
The present service, Train No. 16523/ 524 takes a whopping 18 hours, covering a distance of about 760 km on a circuitous route via Mysuru, instead of the shortest distance of 666 km and journey hours of less than 13 hours, he said.
If the train is operated on the shortest route, it would not only benefit the public to travel between the coast and the State capital faster, but also improve occupancy of the train thereby improving the revenue of the Railways, he said.
Lack of adequate train connectivity has facilitated mushrooming of bus operations in the region, he alleged.Mr. Kini noted that though the Zonal RUCC of SWR had resolved to divert the train after the new line was commissioned, it was not implemented ostensibly on the ground as one of the 37 members of the Mysuru Division’s RUCC opposed the proposal (two others had welcomed it, while 34 others did not respond to the proposal).
The grouse was that people in Mysuru region would lose connectivity to the coast.
‘Start from Mysuru’
He suggested that the train could be started from Mysuru instead of Bengaluru as at present and run via Bengaluru, Shravanabelagola, and Hassan.
This revision would eliminate reversal of train engines at Mysuru and Hassan thereby saving 90 minutes. The Railways may introduce a slip coach attached to Mysuru-Dharwad Express by suitably modifying the timing to cater to passengers between Mysuru and Hassan.
The slip coach then could be attached to Bengaluru-Karwar/Kannur Express at Hassan.
Besides rerouting the train, the Railways should also detach Bengaluru-Karwar Express from Bengaluru-Kannur Express (16517) at Mangaluru Junction itself to save another 45 minutes of entry and exit to and from Mangaluru Central Station.
These modifications would ensure that the Bengaluru-Karwar journey could be completed within 13 hours, Mr. Kini said.
