JOIN USMinister of state for railways K H Muniyappa told Deccan Herald here on Thursday that the date would be decided at a meeting that he would hold on October 22 with Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee who has evinced interest in inaugurating it herself.
The train was to be flagged off on October 6 but it was put off because of the devastating floods that hit northern Karnataka. The new train was announced in the 2009-10 railway budget.
Muniyappa said a new Bangalore-Mysore fast express would be run as a special train in view of the increasing traffic between the two cities. “We are in the process of deciding the date for this”, he added. He said he would shortly hold a meeting in Mysore to examine the possibility of sanctioning a coach building facility for the Mysore railway workshop.
Train extension
Muniyappa also said that the Bangalore-Hubli intercity express would be extended to Dharwad shortly.
His ministry was examining a new line from Hubli to Belgaum, he said and added that effort has been put to get clearance of the environment and forests ministry for the long-pending Hubli-Ankola line.
The minister said the recently launched Bangalore-Mangalore train would be run daily in 2-3 months. At present, it plies alternate days.