The Paschima Karavali Railway Abhivriddhi Samiti has urged Railway Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda to make the proposed Bangalore-Mangalore Express an overnight train and run the proposed Kasargod-Byndoor Passenger via Mangalore Central for the benefit of large sections of commuters.
Submitting a memorandum to Mr. Gowda through Nalin Kumar Kateel, MP, samithi convener Anil Hegde said passengers travelling between Bangalore and Mangalore in the night were finding it difficult to get accommodation after the night rain was extended to Karwar/Kannur. Their demand had been an overnight train on the shortest route, via Arsikere.
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Ministry’s proposal to run the new train as a day train via Mysore would be of no benefit to passengers as most of them are students, employees and businessmen who prefer overnight journey, Mr. Hegde said. He pointed out that operation of over 400 buses between the two cities during the night was testimony to the huge demand for better transport facility. Besides, the patronage to the existing tri-weekly day train between Yeshwantpur-Karwar via Mangalore was very poor and only immediate-point passengers are making use of the services.
Another optionIf it was technically not feasible to operate the service daily, a tri-weekly night service might be introduced with the option of making it daily in later course, Mr. Hegde suggested.
The samiti also expressed its reservations over the plan to route the proposed Kasargod-Byndoor Passenger via Mangalore Junction instead of Mangalore Central. Thought the Railways could save time by not touching Mangalore Central, the service would be of no use either for people from Kasargod or Byndoor as their focal point is Mangalore Central, Mr. Hedge said in another memorandum to the Railway Minister.
Underdeveloped regionsKasargod as well as Byndoor are underdeveloped regions and people in those regions depend heavily on Mangalore City for various needs. Mangalore Junction Station is located away from Mangalore City and lacks proper bus connectivity. Passengers would have to incur considerable expenditure to reach Mangalore City by autorickshaws, he pointed out. Operating the train via Mangalore Central would also help large chunk of workers in Baikampadi Industrial Area, he said.