Feasibility study underway to provide crossing station at Arebetta on Sakleshpur Ghat section, says Ashwini Vaishnaw

Railway Minister announces feasibility study for new crossing station on Hassan-Mangaluru Railway line to enhance train capacity.

Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Wednesday (December 11, 2024) informed the Lok Sabha that the South Western Railway (SWR) was undertaking a feasibility study to provide a crossing station at Arebetta between Yadakumari and Shiribagilu stations on the Sakleshpur-Subrahmanya Road Ghat section of Hassan-Mangaluru Railway line.

Mr. Vaishnaw said there was one block section of about 19 km between Yadakumari and Shiribagilu stations in the Ghat section. To increase the (train handling) capacity of the section, the SWR has commissioned the study, he said. The Minister was responding to a written question by Udupi-Chikkamagaluru MP Kota Srinivas Poojary regarding the status of Railway Electrification (RE) on the Ghat section and whether SWR’s proposal for a crossing station at Arebetta was approved by the Ministry.

Sources in SWR’s Mysuru Division told The Hindu that the feasibility study could be completed very soon, thereby paving the way for constructing the crossing station at Arebetta. In fact, the Division had commenced the work on the crossing station at Arebetta about seven years ago; but the same did not get completed.

On the 55-km Ghat section, four crossing stations — Donigal, Kadagaravalli, Yadakumari and Shiribagilu — were functional while only a 15-coach train could cross at Shiribagilu. Mr. Poojary as well as Dakshina Kannada MP Captain Brijesh Chowta had been demanding enhancing the Ghat section capacity to operate more number of passenger trains between Bengaluru and coastal Karnataka.

Meets DG (Safety), Railways

Mr. Poojary met Hari Shankar Verma, Director General (Safety) with the Railway Board, in New Delhi on December 9 with the demand for at least two crossing stations, including Arebetta.

The MP told the officer that the Ghat section had become a major bottlenck in ensuring seamless connectivity between Bengaluru and coastal Karnataka, including Mangaluru, Udupi and Karwar. Ghat constraint was the reason for the Bengaluru-Karwar-Bengaluru Panchaganga Express (16595/596) running with just 14 coaches; introduction of new trains and special trains, and passenger-friendly time-table were also being affected by such constraints.