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With limited travel accommodation on buses between Mangaluru and Mumbai during the forthcoming summer holidays, there has been a demand for special trains to cater to the needs of coastal Karnataka as well as those settled in Mumbai and surrounding areas.

Different railway zones have so far announced special trains between Mumbai and Goa (Madgaon) and Kerala (Ernakulam, Thiruvananthapuram) via the Konkan Railway network, leaving coastal Karnataka residents amused.

Paschima Karavali Rail Yatri Abhivriddhi Samithi president G. Hanumantha Kamath told The Hindu that the two existing daily trains between Mangaluru and Mumbai — Matsyagandha and Mumbai Express — were felt as inadequate to cater to the normal demand. With the summer holidays, the demand multiplies and the Railways should have announced special trains, he said. The Samithi would write to the Railway Ministry and the Railway Board, strongly demanding special trains, Mr. Kamath said.

Samithi’s adviser Anil Hegde said that a few years ago, special trains were run between Mangaluru and Mumbai; but these were discontinued due to low patronage. The low patronage was because of odd hours of operations of those trains, he said, and added that if special trains ran at convenient times, people would “love to travel” by them.

The railways had been operating a summer special between Mumbai and Ahmedabad until last year, which was running full, Mr. Hegde noted. This year, there was no news about the Ahmedabad special, he said. Mr. Hegde said that besides special trains to Mumbai, specials are also required to Ahmedabad and New Delhi.

Limited halts

Even if passengers intend to make use of special trains destined towards Kerala, the premium weekly special between Mumbai CST and Tirunelveli from April 1 to June 3 on every Wednesday has no halt in coastal Karnataka.

Similarly, the Mumbai CST-Ernakulam premium weekly special from March 29 to June 7 on every Sunday would halt only at Mangalore Junction. While bus fares range from Rs. 800 (for non air-conditioned) to Rs. 1,200 (non-air conditioned) with steep escalations during holidays, train fares range from Rs. 540 (sleeper class) to Rs. 1,420 (3-tier AC) and Rs. 2,045 (2-tier AC).

Matsyagandha and Mumbai Express take 16 hours and 14.5 hours respectively, and buses take 16 to 18 hours for the journey.

Plan in the pipeline

Konkan Railway Corporation Ltd. (KRCL) has said that more special trains on the Konkan route network, including between Mangaluru and Mumbai, are in the pipeline.

Talking to The Hindu , KRCL’s Chief Public Relations Officer Vaishali Pathange said the corporation was in talks with Central Railway for connectivity to and from Mumbai, and with Southern Railway, for connectivity to and from Mangaluru.

Konkan Railway Corporation Ltd. (KRCL) has said that more special trains on the Konkan route network, including between Mangaluru and Mumbai, are in the pipeline.

Responding to a query by The Hindu , KRCL’s Chief Public Relations Officer Vaishali Pathange said that the Corporation was in discussion with Central Railway for connectivity to and from Mumbai, and with Southern Railway, for connectivity to and from Mangaluru.