Mangalore train in a month, says Lalu Prasad
Times of India
Mangalore
Mangalore, Aug 22: Railway minister Lalu Prasad has assured a delegation of MPs and MLAs he would “personally flag off’’ the Bangalore-Mangalore train by September end.
Mangalore MP D V Sadananda Gowda, who led the delegation, told The Times of India from New Delhi on Tuesday that the minister said the commencement of passenger train would be given top priority and he would make himself available for the inauguration, after the parliament session ends on September 10.
Gowda spoke to Railway Board chairman Ramesh Chandra and expressed displeasure over non-commencement of the passenger service. Gowda also told Chandra that there were rumours that the railways were delaying the services as it would hit their revenues in the form of goods traffic. The BJP leader said Chandra denied the allegation, saying some minor works had to be completed on the line as per the Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS). Chandra said the railways were apprehensive about the condition of Subrahmanya-Sakleshpur tracks during monsoon.
It may be recalled that the South Western Railway authorities had got an authorisation letter from the CRS in the second week of April to open the 55-km Subrahmanya-Sakleshpur section of the Mangalore-Bangalore Broad Gauge Railway line for passenger traffic, subject to completion of minor works. “The minor works which I have specified them should not take up more than a week,’’ CRS Pranab Kumar Sen had said then.
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