Mysuru Lok Sabha Member Prathap Simha on Monday made a fervent appeal to Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw to extend the Bengaluru-Mangaluru Central-Bengaluru overnight express to Karwar adding additional coaches to fill the connectivity void between Mysuru and the rest of coastal Karnataka.
He also urged the Minister to extend its periodicity from six-days a week to daily. The additional coaches would offer more berths so as not to affect berth availability to passengers from Mangaluru.
In his meeting with the Railway Minister, details of which were shared by the MP on his X (formerly Twitter) account, Mr. Simha said the extension would enhance the connectivity between Mysuru, one of the popular tourist destinations, with other important tourism and pilgrimage destinations in coastal Karnataka. There was no direct train connectivity between these regions after the Bengaluru-Karwar tri-weekly express was cancelled some five years ago.
Besides the tourist destinations, the extension would also connect Mysuru with the education hub at Udupi-Manipal as well as NITK-Surathkal. The rest of the coast has many tourist attractions, including Udupi, Kollur, Murdeshwar, Honnavar, Gokarna and Karwar, he pointed out.
He said the extension should commercially be viable also as there is a tri-weekly flight service between Mysuru and Goa. Besides thousands of entrepreneurs from coastal Karnataka live in Mysuru, who would invariably use the service upon its extension. The extended service would also help patrons from Ramanagara, Mandya, and Hassan districts to travel seamlessly to and from the coast.
The South Western Railway introduced a tri-weekly overnight express between KSR Bengaluru and Mangaluru via Mysuru in 2021 (Train No. 16585/586).
When Dakshina Kannada MP Nalin Kumar Kateel had urged the Railways to increase its frequency due to bad road conditions during the 2022 monsoon, the Railways introduced a tri-weekly special on the same route and timing in July 2022. The tri-weekly special was regularised next month following demand by Mr. Simha and its terminal was shifted to Sir M Visvesvaraya Terminal (SMVBT), Byappanahalli, in Bengaluru.
