The Railways’ decision to run the Bengaluru City-Kannur express daily train four days a week via Shravanabelagola and on the rest of the days via Mysuru with revised timings has resulted in great deal of confusion among passengers.
Introduced in February, the train bearing No. 16517/16518 when running through a circuitous route via Mysuru and 16511/16512 when running via Shravanabelagola has different departure and arrival timings at both ends, leaving the passengers with little clue about the actual timings on a given day.
Train No. 16517 via Mysuru departs from Bengaluru city at 8.30 p.m. on Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays to reach Mangaluru Central at 8.15 a.m. the next day and to reach Kannur at 11.10 a.m.
In its return journey, Train No. 16512 via Shravanabelagola is scheduled to depart from Kannur at 5 p.m. on Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays and reach Bengaluru City at 6.55 a.m. the next day.
However, No. 16518 train via Mysuru leaves Kannur at 4.40 p.m. on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays to reach Bengaluru City station at 8.20 a.m. the following day.
Two-hour halt
While the 20-minute difference in departure time of the two trains from Kannur is reason for much confusion, the two-hour halt at the Mangaluru Central station everyday has been causing much consternation for the passengers. The Kannur-bound train No. 16511, which departs from Bengaluru City at 7.15 p.m. and reaches Mangaluru Central at 6 a.m., is also made to stay there for over an hour and departs only at 7.05 a.m. to reach its destination at 10 a.m. on Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.
Passengers have been demanding uniformity in the time of departures of the trains and their operation through Mangaluru Junction, skipping the congested Mangaluru Central station, but in vain.