The much-awaited train services on the Bengaluru-Mangaluru rail route through Kunigal and Hassan are likely to begin by the end of February or the first week of March.
The Hassan-Bengaluru rail route (166 km) - which was sanctioned during the tenure of H D Deve Gowda as prime minister in 1996-97 - is finally seeing the light of the day.
The stretch will be an alternative to the present longer route between Bengaluru and Mangaluru through which the trains travel.
It may be mentioned that Jain Mutt seer Charukeerthi Bhattaraka Swami had submitted a memorandum to the state and the Centre to expedite the rail services to enable the devotees visiting Shravanabelagola for the Mahamastakabhisheka in 2018.
If the service begins, it will be convenient for the devotees from across the state and the country.
Rail services between Hassan and Shravanabelagola were started in 2006, during the last Mahamastakabhisheka, which has now been extended up to Bengaluru.