The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Railways ready to run passenger trains to Mangalore from Hassan

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Oct 03, 2007
ePaper

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Railways ready to run passenger trains to Mangalore from Hassan

Anil Kumar Sastry

The Commissioner for Railway Safety has relaxed conditions for the purpose

The ball is in the Railway Board’s court
Three pairs of goods trains are running now

BANGALORE: People forced to cope with the poor condition of the Shiradi Ghat Road will get a reprieve when the Sakleshpur-Subramanya Road Ghat section opens to rail passenger traffic. The South Western Railway has written to the Railway Board that it is ready to commence operation of passenger trains on the Hassan-Mangalore route, after the Commissioner for Railway Safety relaxed conditions for the operation of such trains in the section.

A senior railway official told The Hindu that the commissioner has now agreed to allow a passenger train to trail a goods train down the Ghat thereby enhancing the number of trains to be operated on the route. The communiqué was received by the railways on Monday, he added. Now it is for the board to announce the commencement of the operation of a passenger train.

The relaxation would not affect the movement of goods trains, the operations of which are bringing considerable revenue to the railways and the Hassan-Mangalore Rail Development Corporation, a special purpose vehicle floated for gauge conversion.

At present, the railways is operating three pairs of goods trains in the section, primarily transporting manganese ore to the Mangalore Port. It intends to operate as many as seven pairs of goods trains on the route.

The commissioner, after inspecting the track in April, certified that the track conformed to the safety standards laid down by the Indian Railway Act and was fit for movement of passenger trains. However, he had imposed certain riders: that the speed of the passenger train should be limited to 30 kmph in the section with a further limit of 15 kmph on the stretch between Shiribagilu and Subramanya Road and that no passenger train should be on the track when a goods train was moving on the route.

The railways official said a similar situation prevailed on the Braganza Ghat when the Castle Rock–Madgaon–Vasco-da-Gama section was converted to broad gauge in 1996-97. Initially, only one pair of train was operated and as time passed by, six pairs of trains, including three passenger trains, are being operated. The track passes through one of the spectacular terrains of the Western Ghats that presents a beautiful Dudh Sagar Falls.

The meter gauge line that was commissioned in 1979 between Arsikere and Mangalore was dismantled during 1994-95 for the construction of a broad gauge line. The gauge conversion work was completed in 2005 while goods trains began operation in 2006.

Despite the safety certification being given on April 12, the railways was dilly-dallying over operating passenger trains on the route. People who had been fighting for the early completion of the track alleged that the railways was under the influence of goods transporters’ and the private bus operators’ lobbies.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Karnataka