Mangalore-Bangalore Day train to Mangalore from Saturday

27 August 2009

Minister of state for railways, K H Muniyappa, on Wednesday confirmed that the tri-weekly day passenger train service between Mangalore and Bangalore would commence operation from Saturday.


I will flag off the train from Mangalore Central Railway station at 8 am, Muniyappa told TOI. Yes, there was confusion about the start as the railway minister was unavailable. It has been sorted out now, he said.

Padmanabhan, additional private secretary to railway minister Mamata Banerjee, said she had cleared it. She came to Delhi late and gave the approval on Wednesday evening. We will not be in a position to convey it to the authorities concerned. An official release will be issued on Thursday morning, he added.

But confusion prevailed at the ground level here with Palghat officials saying that the Southern Railway (Chennai) chief PROs office had stated that the function on Saturday was cancelled and the train would start in the first week of September.

Sources in New Delhi said it was just a procedural formality for the railway minister to give the go-ahead . As she was away, the file was pending approval, the source added.

Even South Western Railway officials said they had not received any instructions till late on Wednesday evening.

We would be too happy to announce the commencement of the day train as it has been a long-pending demand of the people of Mangalore. The only hitch is that we have not got any confirmation, SWR deputy GM Prem Narayan said.

source times of india