Daijiworld Media Network – Mangalore (SP)

Mangalore, Jun 26: The tri-weekly train from Kannur to Bangalore via Mangalore has been converted into a daily train. Minister for state in the railways, E Ahamed, flagged off the train from Kannur on Friday June 25 to signal conversion of its schedule.

The night train from Bangalore to the city was extended to Kannur for three days in a week a few months back. This extension has been made effective every day now. The day-train between the state’s capital and the city has already been running to Kannur. The day-train which used to run thrice weekly has been making a daily trip now.

Paschima Karavaili Railway Yatri Abhivriddhi Samiti and Udupi Railway Yatri Sangh have jointly filed a writ petition in the state High Court (HC), questioning this move. In the writ petition, Konkan Railway, South Western Railway Division and the Railway Board have been named as the respondents. The HC bench presided over by Justice Bopanna has accepted the petition, saying that this writ will be taken up for hearing along with the one already filed by a person named Shankar S Bhat.

At the inter-railway traffic committee meeting held in Bangalore during the year 2009, it was decided to extend the Bangalore-Mangalore night train to Karwar, and time table had also been prepared. The Southern Railway, South-western Railway and Konkan Railway Corporation had opined that this is a revenue-generating route, the organizations have learnt through the Rights to Information Act provisions. They have pointed out that the proposal to extend the said train to Kannur was rejected by the meeting of railways held in Kolkota in 2008, for the reason that Kerala is sufficiently connected by trains and that a train to Bangalore is already running between Kannur and Bangalore via Salem,.

Through applications submitted under the said act, it has been found that the train already runs under loss between Kannur and Mangalore, and hence, the petitioners feel that the decision to extend it to Kannur instead of Karwar was taken purely because of political pressure brought in by the MPs from Kerala. President of Karavali Railway Yatri Abhivriddhi Samiti, Hanumant Kamat, has expressed regret at the fact that the Kannadigas were the most hit because of the acquisition of land for the Bangalore-Mangalore railway line and also the Konkan Railway Line, while much of the benefit has gone to Kerala and Goa instead. The writ petition has also urged the railways to at least extend one of the above two trains to Karwar with immediate effect instead of Kannur.