Rail patrons in the coastal region have decried the Railway Ministry’s apathy in not providing adequate passenger service trains between Surathkal (Mangaluru Central) and Madgaon.
After the departure of Mangaluru Central-Madgaon Passenger (Train No 56640) at 5.30 a.m. from Mangaluru Central and 6.45 a.m. from Surathkal, there is no train between the two cities till Mangaluru Junction-Mumbai CSMT Superfast Express (Train No 12134) leaves Mangaluru Junction at 2 p.m. and Surathkal at 2.44 p.m., said secretary of Uttara Kannada Railway Seva Samithi Rajeev Gaonkar.
Similarly, there is no regular passenger train after the departure of Hazrat Nizamuddin-Ernakulam Mangala Lakshadweep Express (Train No 12618) at 4.20 p.m. from Madgaon till the departure of Mumba LTT-Thiruvananthapuram Netravathi Express (Train No 16345) at 10.40 p.m., he noted.
The problem lies with the Railways not reintroducing the Mangaluru Central-Madgaon-Mangaluru Central Intercity Express (Train Nos 22636/22635) that used to leave Mangaluru Central at 8.15 a.m. to reach Madgaon at 2 p.m. and leave Madgaon at 4.15 p.m. to reach Mangaluru Central at 10 p.m., Mr. Gaonkar said.
Konkan Railway Corporation Ltd. (KRCL) also got cancelled Train Nos 16523 Bengaluru-Karwar tri-weekly express via Mysuru that used to leave Mangaluru Central at 9 a.m. as a precondition to introduce a direct train between Bengaluru and Karwar (Train Nos 16595/16596 Panchaganga Express), he lamented.
Expressing similar views, Kundapura Railway Hitharakshana Samithi president Ganesh Puthran said that reintroduction of the Intercity Express is the need of the hour for passengers in the region.
Mr. Gaonkar wondered how KRCL could claim 140% track utilisation when there are very few trains running on Madgaon-Mangaluru section. The corporation, he said, has constantly been urging the Ministry to cancel the Intercity Express citing poor occupancy; whereas its occupancy was over 60% considering unreserved passengers.
Intercity soon
The Intercity Express will soon be reintroduced with convenient stoppages, said Divisional Railway Manager of Southern Railway’s Palakkad Division Trilok Kothari. The division that owns the train has been facing severe crunch of loco pilots as many of them are unwell due to COVID-19, he told The Hindu .
When he was told that though the Intercity was a superfast express, it took nearly seven hours from Mangaluru Central to reach Madgaon, Mr. Kothari said that these issues will be sorted out once it is reintroduced, possibly by this month-end.
