Railway Ministry not to extend Bengaluru-Kannur Express via Mangaluru to Kozhikode

Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has reportedly promised Dakshina Kannada MP Nalin Kumar Kateel that the Ministry will not extend train no. 16511/12 Bengaluru-Kannur-Bengaluru overnight express via Mangaluru Central to Kozhikode.

Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has reportedly promised Dakshina Kannada MP Nalin Kumar Kateel that the Ministry will not extend train no. 16511/12 Bengaluru-Kannur-Bengaluru overnight express via Mangaluru Central to Kozhikode.

The assurance was given when Mr. Kateel met the Minister in New Delhi with a list of demands, including the opposition to the extension proposed by Southern Railway. The MP said the extension would affect berth availability to passengers in coastal region.

Kozhikode MP M.K. Raghavan recently met Railway Board Chairman and CEO Jaya Varma Sinha and reportedly urged her to direct the extension of the service to Kozhikode. Southern Railway has already sent a proposal to the board in this regard.

Along with Mr. Kateel, the Pashchima Karavali Railway Yatri Abhivrddhi Samiti and several patrons too have opposed the extension proposal. Samiti president G. Hanumantha Kamath told The Hindu that the extension would severely affect travellers from Mangaluru and surrounding areas to and from the State capital, Bengaluru.

“What is the need for this extension that entails a circuitous journey for passengers from Kozhikode to Bengaluru when they have a shorter daily service from Kannur to Bengaluru (train no. 16528) via Palakkad,” he mused.

The earlier extension of Yeshwantpur-Mangaluru overnight express to Kannur at the behest of the then Minister of State for Railways late E. Ahmed itself was a blunder. And the present move would severely impair the connectivity to Mangaluru, he said.

Vinay Bharadwaj, a patron from Bengaluru, said the Ministry should restore the service to its originality, that is, running it only till Mangaluru Central. Rajeev Nambiyar, another patron from Bengaluru, said, the service, if extended to Kozhikode, would not benefit people there as it entails over 15 hours of journey to Bengaluru. They could travel by bus in about eight hours and by train no. 16528 in about 12 hours to Bengaluru, he noted.