Mangaluru under SWR: Integration aimed at overall development of coastal Karnataka, not just Mangaluru, say forums

Railway passengers’ associations of Kundapur and Uttara Kannada districts said the integration of Mangaluru Railway Region with the South Western Railway’s (SWR) Mysuru Division was to improve the overall operational efficiency and railway infrastructure across coastal Karnataka, not just Mangaluru.

Ganesh Putran, member of Konkan Railway Users’ Consultative Committee and president of Kundapura Rail Prayanikara Hitarakshana Samithi, and Rajeev Gaonkar, secretary, Uttara Kannada Railway Seva Samithi, on Sunday (October 4) issued a joint statement responding to claims by Mangaluru-based railway passenger associations that development and trains should not bypass Mangaluru after Mangaluru’s integration with SWR’s Mysuru Division.

The forums said the integration was to facilitate development of the entire 300-odd-km coastal railway network. Mangaluru associations could seek services exclusive to Mangaluru, but it would be imprudent to seek through services between Karwar/Madgaon and Bengaluru to enter Mangaluru region. This is because it entails ‘loco reversal’ (change of locomotive direction) either at Mangaluru Junction or at Mangaluru Central, thereby wasting one to two hours of travel time. “No one should be under the impression that Mangaluru should get the first priority as the Indian Railways belongs to everyone,” the forums said.

The forums also pointed out that the proposed Yeshwantpur-Madgaon-Yeshwantpur Vande Bharat (VB) Express would not skip Mangaluru as it runs via Mangaluru Junction. Mangalureans were also entitled to seek a dedicated VB service to Bengaluru, they added.

The forums alleged that there has been a systematic spread of misinformation on social media suggesting that Bengaluru-Karwar trains were “bypassing Mangaluru”, though trains run on the main line of the city. The campaigners want that every train should enter Mangaluru Central and Mangaluru Junction, and state that Vande Bharat Express services are meant exclusively for Mangaluru Central.

Terming this narrative as narrow, the forums said coastal Karnataka was not limited to Mangaluru, but extends for over 300 km towards Karwar and encompass important towns, educational institutions, industrial centres, tourism destinations and passenger catchments.

Terming the argument of Mangaluru associations that Mangaluru Central and Junction alone constitute Mangaluru City as a misnomer, the forums urged the SWR to develop other stations in Mangaluru’s periphery, including Farangipet, Padil Cabin, Kenjar/Jokatte to serve the patrons in Mangaluru. The through trains bypassing Mangaluru region could be given a halt in any of these stations for the benefit of Mangalureans, the forums said.

Stating that anyone getting down at Bantwal Railway Station from a through train could reach Mangaluru Central in about 30 minutes, the forums noted that a regular train on the other hand, would take at least one hour to reach Central from Bantwal and another one hour to move towards Karwar because of loco reversal, signalling, availability of platform and paths, etc. Passengers on through trains should not endure this hardship, they argued.

In fact, Railway infrastructure development should encompass the entire region rather than remain concentrated at one or two stations or locations, the forums stated.