Bangalore-Mangalore train service soon

Bangalore-Mangalore train service soon

Staff Reporter

BANGALORE: The rail link between Bangalore and Mangalore will commence from November 15, Minister of State for Railways R. Velu said here on Monday.

Addressing presspersons after inaugurating a fountain, waterfall and VIP lounge at the city railway station, Mr. Velu asserted that there would be no further delay in the commencement of this line.

“We had to fulfil a lot of safety conditions before starting passenger traffic on this line because it is a tough terrain. Now, the Chief Commissioner for Railway Safety has given the green signal to run trains on this line even before the deadline,” the Minister said.

The proposal to start a bullet train service between two stations would soon become a reality. Railway officials had taken up a survey of the routes for starting such a service in all four directions, the Minister said. Several State governments, including Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Punjab, West Bengal and Maharashtra had come forward to take up the project, he said.
Land Development Authority

Reiterating that all excess railway land would be developed and used for commercial purposes, the Minister said that a Railway Land Development Authority had been set up to study a public-private-partnership model for this. “We have more than one lakh acres of excess land. We can use it to set up hotels, shopping malls, warehousing and also cultivation. The land development authority will look into this,” he said. The Minister said that the proposal to set up agricultural marketing outlets at prominent stations would be implemented on priority. Agricultural products, including seeds, would be made available for farmers at these outlets. They would also have the option of selling their produce through these outlets, he said.

Three elevators, each with a three-tonne capacity, are being installed to carry disabled people and their luggage from the subway in the station to the platforms. Initially, the lifts will start functioning at Platform No. 1, 7 and 8. The remaining platforms would also be covered in a phased manner.

Earlier, the Minister inaugurated a “dual display interactive communication system” (DDICS) for passengers, which will provide relevant ticketing information. Under the system, each booking counter will have a LCD monitor installed at eye level to display the train number, date and class of journey, reservation status and the fare simultaneously when the information is being typed by the booking clerk.

“The passenger can see the information on the screen and make changes if any. The clerk will print the tickets only after the passenger confirms the information,” the Minister explained.

He said 102 reservation counters at 27 locations across Bangalore division will have this facility to cater to more than 80,000 passengers everyday. In an effort to depict Indian Railways’ spirit of dedication to passengers’ concerns and to the never ending journey of life, the Bangalore division has installed figurines of passengers in front of the station.