Mangalore-Bangalore Train Finally On Track

Finally long awaited dream of coastal Karnataka has been fulfilled. Today, on 8 December 2007, Mangalore-Bangalore passenger train has resumed operations after more than a decade of non-existence. At least now the travelers via this route have a one more alternative to the tiring bus journeys. With Shiradi Ghat officially closed till March 2008 for repair work, Charmadi Ghat journey is tiresome and you don’t know at what time you will reach your destination with frequent traffic jams on the way. There are instances of journey taking more than 18 hours too!.

It is good to see that two fast developing cities of Karnataka are now linked by train too. I still remember the first time when I came to Bangalore via train. After that there was a long gap of more than a decade now. One of the disappointing aspects of this train route is that it runs only in the night. If you have to enjoy the scenic beauty of Western Ghats along the way, train has to run in the day time too. This is evident from the fact that this route has 679 bridges and 57 tunnels. Let us hope that in the coming days, Indian railways make it a reality. If it happens, no doubt there will be a boost to Karnataka’s lagging tourism sector.

Another aspect worth mentioning is the duration of the journey which is 11 hours making 3 hours more than the current bus duration(if there are no traffic jams of course)! It can be avoided by not traveling via Mysore as currently done to make it comparable with the bus journey duration.

Regards,
Raveesh

Picture Courtesy : http://www.daijiworld.com/

Related links
Daijiworld.com - Mangalore: History Created as Lalu Flags off Train to Bangalore
thatskannada.com - Mangalore Bangalore Train services
Bangalore Praja - Discussion forum - on Mangalore Bangalore Train Service