MANGALURU: The Kanara Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) through MP Nalin Kumar Kateel has requested railway minister Piyush Goyal to hand over Mangaluru–Thokur line to Mysuru division of South Western Railways (SWR).
KCCI president Isaac Vas said that Mangaluru is fortunate to have rail connectivity to Kerala, Bengaluru and Mumbai. However, at present Mangaluru railway network is under the control of three distinct zones/corporation of the Southern, the South Western and Konkan Railways.
“Due to this, the train operations on this network are complicated as it requires close coordination between the three zones. Introduction of new trains or modification of existing trains in the region requires the consent of all the three zones. We have observed that many developmental proposals could not make headway due to the lack of coordination between the said three zones. The overall potential of the district is underutilised and suffers due to indecision and delays. Hence, people of the region have been demanding for attaching Mangaluru Railway network under the administrative control of a single zone,” he stated
Considering this, as early as in 2004, the Railway ministry had conveyed approval for inclusion of Mangaluru Railway network (Mangaluru-Thokur stations) under the control of South Western Railways. However, the ministry decided at that time that the changes would take effect after completion of the gauge conversion works between Hassan-Mangaluru sections. Unfortunately, the said order has not been implemented even after 14 years of completion of the gauge conversion works.