With just a few days for the Railway Budget, industries here have reiterated their demand for a night train between Coimbatore and Bangalore.
D. Nandakumar, vice-president of the Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industries, Coimbatore, says that earlier only students used to travel to Bangalore from here for higher education. With the growth of the Information Technology (IT) industry in Bangalore, there are several IT employees from Coimbatore who work in Bangalore. They travel to Coimbatore for the weekend and return to Bangalore on Monday.
Even business visitors from Coimbatore to Bangalore prefer to travel by train since the new airport is at least an hour away from Bangalore city. Hence, the trade and industry have been asking for a night train between Coimbatore and Bangalore. “We expect the Government to announce a train between Coimbatore and Yeshwantpur,” he said.
G.K. Nagaraj, coordinator of the Coimbatore Railway Struggle Committee, said that over 50 omni buses ply between Coimbatore and Bangalore every day. There are at least 2,000 passengers travel by bus to Bangalore from Coimbatore daily. Hence, there is a demand for rail connectivity between the two cities. “There is no reason why there should not be a night train between Coimbatore and Bangalore. We have made several appeals to the Union Government,” he says. Both the cities are industrial hubs. Railway officials say there are 14 trains that connect Coimbatore and Bangalore.
However, most of these only pass through Coimbatore or stop at Podanur junction. Employees and business travellers will not benefit from a day train. The Struggle Committee will have a meeting on July 3 and send its demand to the Union Government, he said.
