HASSAN: If everything goes as planned by South Western Railway, the Hassan-Shravanabelagola passenger train will be flagged off on January 31, ahead of the Mahamastakabhisheka celebrations at Shravanabelagola, which will be held from February 8 to 19.

Manoj Kumar, Chief Administrative Officer, South Western Railway, told The Hindu on Wednesday that work on the Hassan-Shravanabelagola line had been completed and the Commissioner for Railway Safety P.K. Sen, who made an inspection recently, had given the go-ahead for commencing the train service.

He said that senior officials of the Railways had communicated to Minister for Railways Lalu Prasad the completion of the work. "It is likely that Mr. Lalu Prasad will inaugurate the service on January 31," he said.

South Western Railway authorities have conducted trial runs on the newly laid Hassan-Shravanabelagola rail line; the first trial run was conducted on January 6. The engine, which started at Hassan railway station, touched 85 km per hour, while the expected speed was 100 kmph. Now, the full speed has been achieved after the completion of some pending works, according to sources in Railways. Work on the Hassan-Shravanabelagola line, which commenced in 1998, took seven years to get completed.

The completed line is part of the Rs. 413-crore broad gauge railway line between Hassan and Bangalore, which was conceived when H.D. Deve Gowda was Prime Minister. With the release of funds the work progressed fast initially. Revenue authorities acquired the

land even without waiting for completion of the formalities. The Railways released Rs. 8 crores in two instalments to the office of the Special Land Acquisition, and compensation for the land losers to the tune of Rs. 4.94crores was also paid. However, the work was affected after Mr. Deve Gowda stepped down from office.

The work gained momentum after Mr. Deve Gowda was elected to the Lok Sabha. He impressed upon the Union Government the need to complete the Hassan-Bangalore line, especially the Hassan-Shravanabelagola line in view of the Mahamastakabhisheka.

Vinay Kumar, Principal Secretary (Infrastructure Development), who is the liaison officer between the Railways and the State Government, allayed fears over the commissioning of the line. He said that the Railway authorities had decided to run three trains every day between Hassan and Shravanabelagola.

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