MP demands direct railway connectivity between coastal Karnataka and Tirupati

The Railway Ministry has been positive to the demand, passengers’ forum says quoting Kota Srinivas Poojary

Kota Srinivas Poojary, Udupi-Chikkamagaluru MP, urged the Railway Ministry to connect coastal Karnataka towns with Tirupati and Hyderabad in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana respectively in the interest of pilgrims and coastal people settled in those States.

The Kundapura Railu Prayanikara Hitharakshana Samithi, that has been following up on the issue with the MP and the Ministry, said the Railway Ministry was positive to the demand and has given assurance to the MP in that regard.

In separate memoranda to Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and Minister of State V. Somanna recently, Mr. Poojary said people from every household in coastal Karnataka have made it a practice to visit the Tirumala at least once every year. Some visit the Venkateshwara more than once.

Also, thousands of people from coastal Karnataka have settled in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana setting up their business ventures and working on employment. They often visit their native places for family programmes, and festivities including Ganesha Chaturthi, Navarathri, and Deepavali. However, there is no direct train connectivity, Mr. Poojary said.

At the same time, many pilgrims and tourists from these three States regularly visit popular pilgrim and tourist attraction centres in coastal Karnataka, including Udupi, Kolluru, Murdeshwar, Gokarna, Karwar etc.

The introduction of a direct train facility between coastal Karnataka through the Konkan Railway Corporation Ltd., network thus would benefit thousands of pilgrims and leisure travellers, the MP said.

Samithi president Ganesh Putran told The Hindu that the demand for direct train connectivity to Andhra Pradesh and Telangana was there for more than a decade. Travellers have interchange trains either at Mangaluru or Bengaluru for their onward journey.

Published - October 07, 2024 09:15 pm IST