Annoyed with the apathy of Konkan Railway Corporation Ltd. (KRCL) to restoring the Yeshwantpur-Karwar-Yeshwantpur Tri-weekly Special between Mangaluru and Karwar, elected representatives, including Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmer Welfare Shobha Karandlaje, have shot off letters to the Railways seeking immediate resumption of services.
Ms. Karandlaje has, in her letter to Minister of State for Railways Darshana Vikram Jardosh on Saturday, said that the train was partially cancelled in view of the pandemic. Now, people in the region have requested restoration of the services, she said urging the Ministry to instruct the concerned to take appropriate action.
In his recent letter to the South Western Railway that owns the train, Uttara Kannada MP Anantkumar Hegde said that the train was the lifeline of coastal Karnataka, particularly his constituency. KRCL has already restored many trains between Madgaon and Roha following improvements in the COVID-19 situation. As such, the Karwar-Yeshwantpur Special too should be restored to avoid further inconvenience to the general public, he told the General Manager.
It is not just MPs from Uttara Kannada and Udupi-Chikkamagaluru who wrote to the Railway Ministry seeking restoration of the train, MLAs from the region too have exerted pressure on the authorities.
Kundapur MLA Halady Srinivas Shetty chided KRCL for its indifference towards passengers in Karnataka and wrote to its Chairman and Managing Director saying that Konkan Railway has constantly advised the Railway Ministry and the South Western Railway to cancel the train citing poor patronage and later, the pandemic.
Mr. Shetty said that despite the COVID-19 situation seeing improvement, KRCL has not taken steps to restore the train. He said, “I instruct you to respect the sentiments and needs of the region and restart the service at the earliest. This train is also attached with Vistadome coaches now and the tourism in the region is anticipating a boost to related activities.”
Kumta-Honnavar MLA Dinakar K. Shetty, who is also a member of Konkan Railway Users Consultative Committee, has already written to KRCL seeking restoration of the service.