Mangaluru :As a result of public pressure, Konkan Railway Corporation Ltd. (KRCL) has resumed the tri-weekly (daytime) service Yeshwantpur-Karwar-Yeshwantpur between Mangaluru Junction and Karwar. The service was cancelled between Mangaluru Junction and Karwar in May.
The reintroduction comes with a rider — for a period of three months, as against Railway Ministry’s earlier directive of ‘until further advice’.
On August 12, KRCL asked South Western Railway (SWR), which owns the train, to issue a notification for reintroduction of the service between Mangaluru Junction and Karwar. On August 13, SWR issued the notification.
While Train No. 06211 will resume service with effect from August 16 till November 26 between Mangaluru Junction and Karwar, the pairing train, No. 06212 will resume service between Karwar and Mangaluru Junction from August 17 till November 27. The trains would run as fully reserved special services.
The service was introduced in 2010 when coastal people had filed a public interest writ petition in the Karnataka High Court seeking rail connectivity to Karwar. The tri-weekly day train offered connectivity between the coast and Bengaluru (Yeshwantpur). The overnight express between Bengaluru (Yeshwantpur) and Karwar was introduced at the same time by extending the service of an existing train from Mangaluru Central to Karwar.
With the Karnataka government relaxing COVID-19 restrictions in phases from June, coastal people began demanding reintroduction of the partially cancelled service. The demand was supported by elected representatives, including Uttara Kannada MP Anantkumar Hegde, Udupi-Chikkamagaluru MP and Union Minister Shobha Karandlaje, MLAs Dinakar Shetty and Halady Srinivas Shetty.
Yet, KRCL was unrelenting and justified the cancellation saying the service was incurring a huge loss, prompting rail patrons to contemplate initiating contempt of court proceedings against the Railways.
Vistadome coaches
The Yeshwantpur-Karwar-Yeshwantpur tri-weekly special (daytime) express is bound to enthral travellers with the beauty of coastal Karnataka. The train, now running between Yeshwantput and Mangaluru, has two vistadome coaches to promote tourism.
The vistadome coaches were introduced in mid-July and have been a big hit. With 44 reclining and rotating seats in each coach, wide windowpanes and a wide rear window, the coaches offer pristine views of the Western Ghats.
While the journey from Bengaluru (Yeshwantpur) to Mangaluru becomes visually appealing after Sakleshpur, from next week, passengers and tourists will also be able to take in the beauty of the coastal stretch from Mangaluru to Karwar.
