37 passenger trains in Karnataka to be converted to Express

The Railway Board has approved the conversion of more than 362 passenger trains across the country, including 37 trains running in Karnataka, into mail/express trains by speeding them up and reducing the number of halts.

The conversion of passenger trains into mail/express means such trains will operate with curtailed stops and increase the speed.

The Railway Board has approved the list of trains sent by different zones which runs beyond 200 km. This was part of the railways' plans to introduce Zero Timetable’ in the coming days wherein trains with poor occupancy will be cancelled and scrap commercially unviable halts.

The new trains will operate once the railways normalise its service. At present, the railway only operating around special trains.

Though there was an apprehension among passengers that this would hit a large number of poor and marginal class as they depend on passengers trains for the daily commute, the railway official said that the decision to increase the speed of the trains by curtailing stops mainly due to low passenger occupancy and commercially unviable halts.

The railway official also added that if they halted stops of some passenger trains, the national transporter will ensure that one or the other train stops at a particular station to cater the local passengers' needs.

The official also said that even after converting passenger trains that run more than 200 km as express trains, passengers still give less money for travel in train compare to another mode of transport.

The railways always earns less in passengers while it is being cross subsided due to earning from freight transportation.

Passenger trains converted to Express in Karnataka

Bellary to Hubballi ( 51411/12), Yeshvantpur to Mysuru ( 56215/16) KSR Bengaluru to Shivamogga town ( 56227/28), Selam to Yeshwanathpur ( 56241/42), Arasikere to Hubballi ( 562737/4), Talaguppa to Mysuru ( 56275/76), Chikkamagaluru to Yeshvanthpur ( 56277/78), Bengaluru Cant to Vijayawada ( 56503/04), Karaikal to KSR Bengaluru (56512/13), KSR Bengaluru to Huballi (56515/16), Solapur to Dharwad ( 56903/04), Solapur-Hubballi (56905/06), KSR Bengaluru to Hubballi (56911/12) KSR Bengaluru to Huballi ( 56913/14) KSR Bengaluru to Shivamogga Town (56917/18), Channapatna to Kolar ( 76525/26), Mangalore Madagoan ( 56640/41) and Madgoan-Mangalore ( 70105/06), Mangalore-Kozhikode (56654), Mangalore-Coimbatore (56323/24).