Train services between Mangaluru-Bengaluru to resume today

BENGALURU/MANGALURU: Train services between Mangaluru and Bengaluru are set to resume from Wednesday (October 10), nearly two months after they were suspended owing to landslides on the Sakleshpur-Subrahmanya Road stretch.

According to South Western Railway (SWR) Chief PRO E Vijaya, the reservations for the trains have already commenced.

While KSR Bengaluru-Kannur/Karwar Express (Train No 16511/16513) will leave the state capital at 7.15 pm from Bengaluru on Wednesday, its pairing train (16512/16514)  Karwar /Kannur-KSR Bengaluru will run from October 11 onwards.

On Thursday, the day train — Yesvantpur-Karwar Express (Train No 16515) — will leave Yesvantpur at 7.10 am. Its pairing train (16516) will leave from Karwar on Friday (October 12).
Train operations came to a standstill between the two cities following a landslide on August 14 on the Sakleshpur-Subrahmanya Road stretch of the Hassan-Mangaluru railway section. It was succeeded by 64 more landslides and torrential rains in the subsequent days. SWR Mysuru Division on October 1 completed the massive task of restoring the landslide-affected track and even operated a goods train.

Asked about the speed limit, Divisional Railway Manager, Mysuru Division, Aparna Garg said that trains passing through the ghat section generally maintain a speed of 30 km per hour and this will continue. At two portions alone, the train will run at a speed limit of 10 kmph, she said.
“Between Kadagarvalli and Yedakumari stations (km 63 in railway terminology) and between Sribagilu and Subrahmanya Road (km 86), the train will run at 10 kmph,” Garg said.

Asked if all works had been completed along the Sakleshpur-Subrahmanya Road stretch, she said that some minor works remained along the stretch, but they could be carried out over the next few weeks.  
Though the restoration works could have been completed by fourth week of September, a fresh landslide near Siribagilu railway station prolonged the restoration work. After the fresh landslide, SWR had to deploy nearly 10 earthmovers and over 60 men to clear the debris.

Meanwhile, the news of train connectivity resuming between the two cities has come much to the delight of rail users from the region.

Welcoming the move, Anil Hegde, convener of West Coast Railway Passengers’ Development Committee, urged SWR to consider using the shortest alternative route of Hubballi-Madgaon-Karwar-Yesvantpur to operate Mangaluru-Bengaluru trains in case of emergencies instead of the Palakkad-Tirupattur section which is time consuming. Initially, after the landslides, SWR tried operating Bengaluru-bound trains using the Palakkad-Tirupattur section but stopped after a while owing to technical reasons.