M’lore Jn–Thokur track doubling by March

Mangaluru: The railway track doubling work launched in 2017 by Southern Railway’s Palghat division in order to decongest train traffic will be completed by March 2019, railway officers informed on Wednesday.

The doubling work between Mangalore Junction (Kankanady) station is in the advanced stage. The tender will be floated for work from Nethravathi bridge to Mangalore Central station soon, they added.

They were speaking at a grievance meeting with Palghat and Konkan Railway division-level officer organised at the Nethravathi Hall of the Zilla Panchayat. The meeting was chaired by MP Nalin Kumar Kateel.

“Once the doubling work is completed, trains will not need to wait for hours near Surathkal. The railway electrification work up to Panambur will be completed in 2019. Activists including Hanumanth Kamath and Sudarshan Puttur had protested against the poor treatment of the Palghat division.

“Work on many important projects like foot overbridge in Ullal, building at the second entrance and construction of the fourth and fifth platforms are yet to begin,” they stated.

The Konkan Railway officers, responding to a suggestion by Sudarshan Puttur, promised to extend one of the eight trains between Mumbai and Goa to Mangaluru and cancel the operation of the Mangaluru – Madgaon intercity train.

Pratap Singh Shami, divisional railway manager of the Palghat Division, supported the demands of the activists and said there should be trains to serve the needs of the people.

Mangaluru MP Nalin Kumar Kateel later told reporters that since 2014, Mangaluru railway stations were benefited with developmental works worth Rs 1,500 crore.

“Additional Rs 500-crore worth projects are in different stages of completion. Nearly 60% of the demands of passengers from these parts had been realised,” he said.

“The demand for a Mangaluru division is not feasible due to many problems. But Konkan Railways had shifted the division from Karwar to Mangaluru,” he pointed out.

Kateel shared a recent unpleasant experience with the station master of the Mangalore Junction station.

He said his repeated requests to open the VIP lounge was ignored by the station master.

“If this is his attitude to an MP, what is his response to the public,” he asked.

Railway officials present in the meeting promised to counsel the station master and motivate him to mend his ways.