In a renewed effort, rail activists based in coastal Karnataka held a tweetathon on Sunday demanding that Mangaluru and other coastal Karnataka stations be brought under the South Western Railway zone.
Currently the coastal parts of Karnataka are partly under the Palakkad division of Southern Railway and partly under Konkan Railway, while the rest of the state is under South Western Railway.
Using the hashtag #CoastalKarnatakaUnderSWR, the activists tagged Minister of State, Railways Suresh Angadi, Minister of Railways Piyush Goyal, local MPs Nalin Kumar Kateel (who is also the state BJP president) and Shobha Karandlaje among others to act on their pleas.
The announcement of such a merger was made in 2003 but since then has been put on the back-burner. The activists now want the same proposal to be taken forward by the Centre in the next union budget, due to be presented on February 1.
To argue for their cause, the rail users said although there was significant demand both in terms of passengers and freight, there has been no major overhaul of railway infrastructure in the region. They say that due to the lack of train services, there has been a decrease in freight over the last three years.
Similarly, there are long delays in trains connecting the coast with Bengaluru due to the lack of infrastructural development.
One rail user tweeted, “Karwar express reaches Mangalore@5.30 AM frm Bangalore & it reaches Udupi by 8.15 AM. Just to cover 70 KM from Mangalore to Udupi it takes 2 Hr 45 minutes. Our MP is not bothered to take this issue with ministry.”
Karwar express reaches Mangalore@5.30 AM frm Bangalore & it reaches Udupi by 8.15 AM. Just to cover 70 KM from Mangalore to Udupi it takes 2 Hr 45 minutes. Our MP is not bothered to take this issue with ministry @SWRRLY@RailMinIndia @ShobhaBJP#CoastalKarnatakaUnderSWR
— Satheesh Amin (@Satheeshamin) December 15, 2019
Another tweet read, “One State One Rail network. Bring Dakshin Kannada, Udupi, Uttara Kannada districts under @SWRRLY which will ease the operations and connect rest of the state with coastal Karnataka..”
One State One Rail network. Bring Dakshin Kannada, Udupi, Uttara Kannada districts under @SWRRLY which will ease the operations and connect rest of the state with coastal Karnataka. @SureshAngadi_ @PiyushGoyalOffc @nalinkateel #CoastalKarnatakaUnderSWR
— danielmaben (@danielmaben1) December 15, 2019
Mangalore has been deprived of basic facilities under SR (Palghat division), also there has been step motherly treatment towards coastal region.MAQ
— अजीत कामत (@ajithkamath588) December 15, 2019
has been reduced as mere parking space trains originating from TN & KL @PiyushGoyal Ji @SureshAngadi_ Ji #CoastalKarnatakaUnderSWR https://t.co/nSyCslQTxr
Others also opined that bringing the coastal zone under SWR will also lead to train connections between north-western parts of the state.
Yes. This train is very much required#CoastalKarnatakaUnderSWR https://t.co/7B9FFDv2Ed
— Vishwanath.J (@vishwa_bly) December 15, 2019
Yrs of negligence under SR @propgt14 and KR @KonkanRailway .Plagued by poor infrastructure and will power by local politicians leading to no trains running towards rest of Karnataka except the capital. Why this apathy towards Karnataka
— danielmaben (@danielmaben1) December 15, 2019
#CoastalKarnatakaUnderSWR@SureshAngadi_
A few activists highlighted the lack of development of major tourist and cultural towns and cities like Puttur and Mangaluru.
@ShobhaBJP madam,
— Swaroophegde (@Swaroophegde4) December 15, 2019
Udupi being a cultural, traditional and historical city of Karnataka lacks proper railway facilities. Not a single pitline, stabling line is constructed by konkan railway in decades. No proper connectivity to Karnataka. #CoastalKarnatakaUnderSWR