Mangalore: Mumbai Superfast Train to Begin Operations from Aug 14
Daijiworld Media Network – Mangalore (SP)
Mangalore, Aug 13: Mumbai-Karwar Super Fast Express Train stands extended to the city with effect from Saturday August 14. While this decision has brought cheers to the people of the district, most of whom have strong links with the commercial capital of the country, the fact that the train will run from Kankanady (Mangalore Junction) instead of the Central railway station, has come as a dampener to their spirits.
Surprisingly, the railway time table shows the destination of the train as Mangalore Central. Sources said that bowing to strong Kerala lobby, the train is being terminated at Kankanady with an eye on its possible extension to Kerala in the coming days. As per the time table, the train is set to leave Mumbai at 10.15 pm on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and reach Mangalore Central station at 12.15 pm the next day. It is slated to leave Mangalore Central station at 1.50 pm on Thursdays, Saturdays and Tuesdays, and reach Mumbai CST at 4.05am the next day. Violating the time table fixed by the Railway Time Table Committee, the railways have decided to terminate the train at Kankanady for obvious reasons.
The train is set to be inaugurated at Kankanady station at 9 am on August 14. Udupi Railway Commuters Association president, R L Dias, has said that this smacks of a clear ploy to extend the train to Kerala in the coming days, as no plausible reasons have been offered for changing the train’s destination to Kankanady instead of Attavar (Central).
Commuters will have to spend considerable amount of time and money additionally to reach Kankanady railway station, which is located far away from the city, and road communication facilities to this station are bad. Autorickshaws charge hefty sums to commuters going to this railway station. MP, Nalin Kumar Kateel, and several other dignitaries have voiced their protest against this decision of the railways. It is to be seen as to whether their voices will ultimately die down as it happened when the Bangalore train was extended to Kannur in the past.