Southern Railway asked to extend Mumbai-Thokur Special up to Mangaluru Central

The special train would be operated daily for a month starting August 13 in view of the Ganesh festival

Paschima Karavali Railway Yatri Abhivriddhi Samithi has urged Southern Railway to allow operation of Mumbai Lokamanya Tilak Terminus-Thokur-Mumbai LTT Ganapati Special Express up to Mangaluru Central, or at least Mangaluru Junction.

The special train, proposed by Central and Konkan Railway, would be operated daily for a month, from August 13 to September 11 from Mumbai, and from August 14 to September 12 from Thokur. Train No. 01153 leaves Mumbai LTT at 10.15 am to reach Thokur at 4.30 pm the next day, while Train No. 01154 leaves Thokur at 7.30 pm to reach Mumbai LTT at 1.25 pm the next day.

While thanking the Railways for proposing the festival special at a time when thousands of coastal people settled in Mumbai visit their native places for the Ganesh festival, Samithi president G. Hanumanth Kamath wrote to SR’s Palakkad Divisional Railway Manager that terminating the service at Thokur, a hamlet outside Mangaluru, was not a wise decision. “Thokur lacks basic connectivity with Mangaluru City and other parts of Dakshina Kannada district,” he pointed out.

Passengers bound for Mangaluru, Bantwal, Puttur and nearby areas would find it extremely difficult to reach their destination for lack of local connectivity. They could not alight at Surathkal either, as that station is too far away from the city and lacks last-mile connectivity.

If the service is allowed to be operated till Mangaluru Central or Mangaluru Junction, which comes under the jurisdiction of Southern Railway, passengers bound for Bantwal and Puttur could board the Mangaluru-Puttur Passenger train at Mangaluru Junction at 6.10 pm, Mr. Kamath said.

He said there is no constraint regards to platform to accommodate the special train at Mangaluru Junction around 5 pm. Train No. 12134 Mangaluru Junction-Mumbai CSMT Superfast Express and Train No. 16516 Yesvantpur-Karwar tri-weekly Express would already have left the station at 4.30 pm and 4.45 pm, respectively. The special train could be brought to Mangaluru Junction at 5.15 pm and dispatched towards Mumbai at 6.55 pm without affecting its schedule from Thokur, Mr. Kamath suggested.