Railway activists from Dakshina Kannada on Friday urged South-Western Railway General Manager Sanjeev Kishore, who was on a visit to the district, to extend the Mangaluru Central-Kabaka Puttur night express to Subrahmanya Road and to develop the station as a terminal station.
Mr. Kishore was inspecting stations under the SWR jurisdiction in the district, including Subrahmanya Road and Kabaka Puttur. Activist G.K. Bhat from Mangaluru and Laxminarayan, among others, submitted memoranda of demands to the GM and explained to him the reasons behind the demand.
Mr. Bhat told The Hindu that Mr. Kishore promised to consider extension of the night service to Subrahmanya Road after the zone provided infrastructure facilities, including watering and laying an extra loop line. When Mr. Laxminarayan pointed out at illegal activities being committed at the Bantwal station, the GM assured of deploying Railway Protection Force personnel at the station.
He told the GM that stations under SWR from Padil Cabin near Mangaluru till Subrahmanya Road in Dakshina Kannada did not see much improvement. Stations at Farangipet and Kalladka, which were closed during gauge conversion, were not restored after the conversion. He also urged the SWR to speed line-doubling and electrification on this stretch.
Mr. Bhat also brought to Mr. Kishore’s notice a letter by residents of Pudu village demanding development of the Farangipet station where SWR has about 30 acres of land. Besides developing the station, loop lines should be provided to facilitate train crossing, the residents had said. Situated closer to Mangaluru, the station could also function as a terminal station, they had said.
SWR should ensure the Mangaluru Juntion-Yeshwantpur tri-weekly Gomateshwara express (16575) and the Mangaluru Junction-Yeshwantpur weekly express (16540) should depart Mangaluru Junction at 7 a.m. so as to reach Yeshwantpur by 4 p.m.
Activists demanded stoppage for daytime trains between Mangaluru Junction and Yeshwantpur and the Vijayapura -Mangaluru Junction-Vijayapura express special at Narimogaru and Yedamangala located between Kabaka Puttur and Subrahmanya Road.
