Nalin Kumar Kateel submits “Demands of public” to D.V.S.G

Mangalore, June 06: Member of Parliament Mr Nalin Kumar Katil has called on the Union Minister for Railways, Mr. D.V. Sadananda Gowda in New Delhi on June-06 and submitted a Memorandum to the Union Minister regarding Demands of the public for improving Railway Connectivity in Coastal Karnataka.

The memorandum included the demands of the public for improving railway connectivity in Coastal Karnataka. The two major demands are establishment a separate Mangalore railway division and more trains between Bangalore – Mangalore.

Nalin Kumar has put forth the following public demands:

A separate Mangalore railway division should be formed and brought under South Western Railway Zone, which is headquartered in Hubli, Karnataka. Presently, the Mangalore railway region functions under Palakkad division of Southern Railway Zone, which is headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. With the establishment of Mangalore Railway Division, there will be more facilities and benefits to the passengers and goods traffic. Moreover, it will also boost the economic and social development of Mangalore as well as the entire West coast. It will bring together the existing area of Mangalore Central, Mangalore Junction and New Mangalore Port and Konkan Railway jurisdiction.

One direct train at night between Mangalore to Bangalore is not enough. More night trains between Mangalore and Bangalore should ply, since there is a lot of traffic between the two cities. If the travel time, currently between 11 and 12 hours, is reduced, it would benefit the public hugely. The delay occurs due to the Shiradi Ghat section where the steep gradient doesn’t allow trains to move at more than 30kmph. If the Shravanabelagola-Nelamangala route work gets expedited, it will give passengers another shorter route to Bangalore via Hassan and will also reduce travel time considerably.

More trains should ply between Bangalore – Mangalore via Hassan, Sakleshpura which helps Coastal Karnataka public. There is no direct rail link between Bangalore and Hubli. It would be in place only after the commissioning of the Tumkur-Chitradurga-Davangere railway line.

Train to North Karnataka cities via Hassan, Arasikere is possible with the current railway track. Introduction of new trains from Hubli, Gulbarga to Mangalore should be done.

Give permanent halt to all Kerala bound trains in major stations like Surathkal, Udupi, Kundapura, Byndoor, Bhatkal, Kumta & Karwar. Uplift the passenger amenities in these stations.

Track doubling is another issue. The major reason for trains reaching Mangalore Central late from Ullal, sometimes by an hour, and also Mangalore Junction and Central stations from Surathkal is due to the single track. I urge you to expedite track doubling work on this route to solve this problem.

Another superfast train between Mangalore and Mumbai is necessary, because the two direct existing trains are always full and the rest pass through the region.

The proposal of making Mangalore Central a world class station which was proposed by the then Railway Minister, Ms. Mamata Banerjee in her 2009-10 Rail Budget should be considered in this budget.

Introduction of a new Daily Superfast Train from New Delhi to Mangalore via Konkan route.

Reducing travel time and increase frequency of Bangalore – Karwar train.

All trains passing or starting from Mangalore Junction should also come to Mangalore Central.

Increase each stations reservation quota and introduce PQ (Pooled Quota), DF (Defence Quota), LD (Ladies Quota), SS (Female above 45/Senior Citizen/Travelling alone), etc. in Coastal Karnataka stations.

Replace Malayalam signage boards with Kannada signage boards throughout the Karnataka coastal area railway stations.