The Southern Railway will take up work to double the railway line between Netravathi Cabin and Mangaluru Central Station as well as construction of an additional platform in the coming fiscal after the Union Budget provided about ₹ 21.4 crore for the project.
Line doubling work between Netravathi Cabin and the Central Station (1.5 km) had long been pending, which if commissioned, would considerably ease train operation constraints at the Central Station.
Along with line doubling, construction of one more platform in addition to the existing four would enable Central Station to handle more trains.
While ₹ 21 crore has been sanctioned for line doubling, ₹ 40 lakh has been earmarked for the additional platform.
Both the works were sanctioned last year, while funds are made available this year. However, there is no mention about the required road underbridge at the Mahakalipadpu Railway Level Crossing, which witnesses heavy flow of vehicular traffic as the road provides the shortest route between South Mangaluru and National Highway 66 towards Kerala.
Besides these works, the budget has sanctioned ₹ 66.71 lakh for a new reservation counter and other buildings at the second entrance (Attavar) at Mangaluru Central Station. While the work was sanctioned earlier, funds were allocated only in this budget.
The second entrance would considerably ease the load on the main entrance of Mangaluru Central Station by catering to the eastern parts of the city. It would cater to people in areas such as Kadri, Bendore, Nanthoor, Airport Road, Bikarnakatte, Kankanady and Jeppu.
The budget has also allocated ₹ 75 crore for the ongoing line doubling work between Mangaluru Junction and Panambur.
Meanwhile, a release from Palakkad Division of Southern Railway here on Thursday said that the budget has allocated ₹ 68.28 crore to Southern Railway for providing foot overbridges, extension and raising platforms. Also, ₹ 300 crore has been allocated for soft upgrades, including seats, benches, facade, circulating area, landscaping, drinking water and parking in railway stations under Southern Railway.
