The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Demand for direct train from Bangalore to southern districts

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Friday, Mar 14, 2008
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Demand for direct train from Bangalore to southern districts

S. Prasad

Now people have to depend on buses

Hosur to witness further industrial growth, population on the rise
The winter special train should be made permanent

Hosur: Popular demand prevails on the need to introduce a direct train from Bangalore to Nagercoil via Hosur on a regular basis. Lack of direct trains from Hosur to southern districts has made travel to these places a tedious process. Though the demand for introduction of a direct train from Hosur to Southern districts has been persisting for a long time nothing concrete has emerged till date.

Krishnagiri, after its bifurcation from the composite Dharmapuri district on February 9, 2004, has had an influx of people mainly from the South of Tamil Nadu. After the industrialisation process began, the population, which was just 20,000 then, had rapidly increased to cross over a lakh.

According to the president of Hosur Passengers Association N. Balakrishnan “the introduction of a weekly ‘winter special’ from Bangalore to Nagercoil via Hosur, for three months from November for the last few years, had sent hopes soaring that the train would be made permanent. But the train was withdrawn as scheduled, dashing all hopes of their long pending need being fulfilled.”

Till date, there are no direct buses to the Southern districts from Dharmapuri or Hosur. Commuters from both the districts had to depend only on buses from Bangalore. It is said that compared to the high charges levied by the private bus services, the rates in the train inclusive of berth worked out much lesser, making travel both economical and comfortable.

Say sources in the railways: “The immense response drawn by the ‘winter special’ to Nagercoil from both Hosur and Dharmapuri was a clear revelation on the need for introducing such a train on a permanent basis.”

As of now, those wanting to travel to southern districts from Hosur have to travel to Salem and wait for at least three to four hours before they board another connecting train to Madurai.

With a majority of the population in both the districts employed in Hosur and Karnataka, there has been a heavy surge in traffic on the Salem-Bangalore route. As a result, the railways should extend the Salem-Virdhachalam Passenger up to Bangalore. The railways should introduce a passenger train from Bangalore to Madurai via Hosur and new trains from Hosur to Chennai and Puducherry. With Hosur being poised for further industrial growth and its population also on the rise, it is hoped that train facilities are extended gradually.

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