Dakshina Kannada Member of Parliament and Karnataka BJP president Nalin Kumar Kateel met Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw to make a strong pitch for the merger of Mangaluru Railway Region under Southern Railway with South Western Railway, on Friday, September 22, in New Delhi.
Mr. Kateel told the Minister that the Mangaluru Railway Region, having about 35 route km (RKM) network, has not seen much development following the “step-motherly” treatment by the SR. Intra-State connectivity within Karnataka too was severely affected because of Mangaluru being under the SR.
He said, “The attitude (of SR) has cost the people of coastal Karnataka dearly and the progress of the railway infrastructure and services are tardy and do not match the phenomenal spur in railway activities in the other regions of the country, though the revenues from freight and passenger segments are very high.” Therefore, Mangaluru region should be brought under the administrative control of the SWR’s Mysuru Division, he demanded.
The MP further said it was a long-cherished demand of the people of coastal Karnataka to be a part of the SWR system. The move would not only help the rapid growth of the physical infrastructure, but also better passenger services to people.
The wrongs done while demarcating Mysuru and Palakkad divisions, which were earlier under Southern Railway, should be undone now by bringing Mangaluru region under Mysuru Division, the MP said.
Mr. Vaishnaw told Mr. Kateel that the process had already been set in motion and the Railway board would give him a report soon.
Operational delays
The MP also briefed the Minister on the inordinate delay in handing over trains from Mangaluru region (Southern Railway) to Konkan Railway Corporation and vice versa thereby affecting the running hours. He also told the Minister that train no. 16585/586 Sir M. Visvesvaraya Terminal Bengaluru-Murdeshwar-SMVT Bengaluru takes two hours to traverse 20 km between Mangaluru Central and Surathkal. The Minister reportedly directed the board to eliminate the inordinate delays.
