Delay in the re-launching of passenger train between Bangalore and Mangalore has upset the public no end.
People who often commute from Bangalore to Mangalore by bus complain of bad road and demand early commissioning of a passenger train in the sector.

The driver of Mangalore-bound KSRTC Airavatha (Volvo), Sathish, said that there’s a 38 km-stretch of road at Shiradi ghat, which is extremely bad. “Even Airavatha passengers complain of back pain while passing through Shiradi ghat.

Despite repeated complaints no efforts have been made to improve the road condition. We keep hearing that they will soon start a passenger train but it’s all a big railu (lie)”, he said.

Even a minor accident in the ghat region leads to major traffic jams lasting for hours. “If you are stuck at the ghat you don’t know when will you reach your destination. We don’t even get a bottle of water in that area”, he added.

Ms Deepthi, a software professional at Emphasis in Bangalore, travels to her hometown Mangalore at least once every fortnight in the Airavatha.

Careless
“Forget ordinary buses. Even in Volvo, one cannot travel comfortably. I had never thought that a government would be so careless on providing basic infrastructure facilities like good roads to people. The government should improve the road condition and start passenger-train services at the earliest”, she demanded. The delay has hit the hoteliers the worst. Mr P K Shetty, proprietor of Hotel Chandrika on Cunningham Road, said that more than 3,000 restaurants in Bangalore are run by people from Dakshina Kannada. The staff in these restaurants are also from the same district. They often go to their hometowns.

“As Shiradi Ghat road is very bad we take a longer route, via Mysore and Madikeri to reach our homes. Big hoteliers can afford air travel. I don’t know why they are delaying the passenger train when there’s already a goods train running on the same lane. It will benefit thousands of people”, Mr Shetty said.

Students studying in Mangalore and other places in Dakshina Kannada district are suffering too. Nikhil, a Bangalorean, studies MSc (Bio-chemistry) in Mangalore University. Whenever he gets a holiday he travels to Bangalore.

He said that many students often travel from Mangalore to Bangalore. “Due to bad road we go in luxury buses, which are more expensive than the State-run buses. The train services would definitely lighten our financial burden,” he added.