Mangaluru: The Dakshina Kannada district committee of the DYFI has urged the Union railway ministry to introduce additional train services from Mangaluru to Bengaluru and major cities in North Karnataka. This comes in the backdrop of the railway board’s move to bring the Mangaluru railway area, under the administrative jurisdiction of Mysuru division of South Western Railway.BK Imtiyaz, president of DYFI DK in a statement said the administrative change alone would not address the region’s railway connectivity needs and said that Mangaluru should be developed as a railway hub connecting various parts of Karnataka. Lakhs of migrant workers, students and others travel to Dakshina Kannada and neighbouring districts in search of employment, many of them work in construction, industries, hotels and domestic services, he stated.The party said that the lack of proper train services to main cities in the state has forced them to depend on expensive bus travel. It pointed out that the number of trains connecting Mangaluru with Bengaluru and other districts was lower than the services available to various parts of Kerala and Tamil Nadu, he said.They urged the MP, MLAs from the state to put pressure on the Centre and railway ministry to increase train services, and sought direct and additional trains from Mangaluru to Bengaluru, Hubballi-Dharwad, Belagavi, Vijayapura, Kalaburagi, Raichur and Ballari. They also demanded an increase in the frequency of existing trains, the number of coaches and affordable fares for ordinary passengers, and urged for the expansion of platforms at Mangaluru Central station and upgradation of stations with modern amenities.
