Association urges Railways to operate coastal Vande Bharat Express train on originally planned route

The association urges Railways to maintain the Coastal Vande Bharat Express train's original route to prevent delays and improve connectivity.

The Kundapura Railway Prayanikara Hitharakshana Samithi on Thursday urged the Railway Ministry to operate the proposed Coastal Vande Bharat Express train between Bengaluru and Madgaon on the originally planned route.

The samithi president and Konkan Railway Users’ Consultative Committee member Ganesh Puthran told reporters in Udupi that any deviation from the proposed route, via Padil bypass, would cause delays in its operation. The Ministry has proposed the Coastal Vande Bharat Express train to improve connectivity along the entire Karnataka coast, he said.

Mr. Puthran said a few people were attempting to divert the operation of the train through Mangaluru City which would cause delays. The Ministry has planned the route via Padil Bypass, skipping Mangaluru Junction and Mangaluru Central, to ensure that it completes the about 700-km journey in a tight schedule of about 13 hours. Any diversion towards Mangaluru would have a cascading effect on its running thereby causing inconvenience to passengers from larger parts of the coastal Karnataka, he argued.

The Ministry could provide halt at Bantwal and Surathkal to cater to the interest of passengers from Mangaluru, Mr. Puthran said.

He said that passengers on the SMVT Bengaluru-Murdeshwar-SMVT Bengaluru were spending extra time for nearly more than two hours as the train goes in to the Mangaluru Central before proceeding either towards Murdeshwar or Bengaluru. This situation should not repeat for the Vande Bharat express, he said.

He also urged the Ministry to bring Mangaluru Railway region under the jurisdiction of South Western Railway for enhanced ease of train operations throughout coastal Karnataka.