DK MP Kateel places his wish list before railway minister Piyush Goyal

MANGALURU: Close on the heels of Karkala MLA V Sunil Kumar shooting off a letter to Union minister Piyush Goyal seeking merger of Konkan Railway with Indian Railways, and state BJP president B S Yeddyurappa and MP B Y Raghavendra placing their list of demands, DK MP Nalin Kumar Kateel too has joined the bandwagon by placing his wish list before Goyal.
The primary demands among the multi-point charter of demands placed by Nalin before the Union minister include sanctioning a separate railway division for Mangaluru, developing basic amenities at Mangaluru Central railway station, including constructing a new building for the station, expediting construction of a fourth platform for the station, doubling of tracks between Subrahmanya and Sakleshpur railway stations and introduction of DEMU trains between Mangaluru and Madgaon.

Nalin also urged the minister to extend the Dadar-Madgaon Shatabdi Express to Mangaluru, reintroduction of the Mangaluru to Miraj Mahalakshmi Express via Hassan, Arsikere and Hubballi, as well as development of basic facilities for passengers at Subrahmanya Road station. The hurdles pertaining to developing Mangaluru Junction into a world-class railway station, as announced in the budget, too have been flagged in the memorandum given to Goyal.

Nalin told STOI that these demands are representative of long-standing aspirations of people of the region, and attention of the minister has been drawn towards the same. “The minister has assured to convene a meeting of officials in Delhi either on January 4 or 5, to sort out the issues and expedite implementation of the same,” said Nalin, adding some of these demands could see the light of day and get fast-tracked in the days ahead.

Vital to meeting the needs of passengers of the region include starting of new trains, said Nalin, adding the demand for trains to Tirupati and an additional train to Yesvanthpur will be considered. The memorandum is the crystallisation of thoughts and demands that various railway commuters and users forums that are active in the district have put forth, said Nalin, adding that every effort will be made to the get the railway officials to accede to the demands.