‘B’luru-Karwar train cancelled at behest of KRCL’

The existing train between Bengaluru and Karwar was cancelled at the behest of Konkan Railway Corporation Limited (KRCL), activists charged on Friday.

Activists alleged that KRCL for years had been suppressing the requirements of Karnataka. When South Western Railways (SWR) proposed to bifurcate existing Bengaluru-Kannur/Karwar Express at Subrahmanya Road and operate Karwar portion via Padil bypassing Mangaluru region, it denied watering and fuelling facilities for the train in its network. Later, KRCL opposed SWR's proposal to operate a bi-weekly train between Yeshwantpur and Vasco-da-Gama.

When SWR, under pressure from activists, proposed the present new train, KRCL changed its previous stand and agreed to the bifurcation proposal, activists claimed.

Even when the recent Inter Rail Timetable Committee (IRTC) meeting in Bengaluru had endorsed the new train, KRCL reportedly approached Railway Minister Piyush Goyal to get the new train cancelled.

Karnataka MPs Shobha Karandlaje, Anant Kumar Hegde and former MP K Jayaprakash Hegde had met Goyal on Thursday and had insisted on the new train, claimed activists.