Mangaluru: Kundapur Railway Association and Uttara Kannada Rail Sewa Samiti have opposed demands that trains serving Udupi, Kundapur and Karwar must enter Mangaluru Central or Mangaluru Junction, saying such diversions could add two to three hours to the journey.
The associations said this was particularly significant for passengers travelling towards Udupi, Kundapur and Karwar, as trains still had nearly 300 km to cover along the coast after passing Mangaluru. They said a Festival Special operating on the Bantwal-Jokatte-Surathkal route already took about 18 hours and that it was not practical to expect every long-distance train to serve all stations within Mangaluru city.
Konkan Railway Consultative Committee member and Kundapur Railway Association president Ganesh Putran and Uttara Kannada Rail Sewa Samiti representative Rajeev Gaonkar, in a joint statement, said railway associations representing passengers from the Mangaluru North-Surathkal region to Karwar had rejected what they termed misinformation that trains operating on the Bengaluru-Karwar route were “bypassing Mangaluru”. They said Mangaluru had several railway stations, including Bantwal, Padil, Jokatte and Surathkal/Mangaluru North, which could provide access to the city without requiring long-distance trains to enter Mangaluru Central or Mangaluru Junction. They said requiring trains bound for Udupi, Kundapur or Karwar to enter Mangaluru Junction or Central could involve loco reversal, signalling requirements, platform availability, congestion and returning along the same route before proceeding towards their destinations. This could cost two to three hours, according to them. They said the recent amalgamation of the Mangaluru railway territory with South Western Railway should be seen as an effort to improve operational efficiency and connectivity across the entire Coastal Karnataka railway network.
Instead, they called for strengthening stations such as Padil and Jokatte and improving access to Mangaluru from these stations.