Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (SP)

Mangaluru, Mar 22: The optimistic wait for the proposed start of Kudla Express between Bengaluru and the city on March 22 may be a bit excruciating, as the plan to run the newly introduced train, Kudla Express, is hit by shortage of rakes.

The 110 km new railway tracks between Nelamangala and Shravanabelagola will be inaugurated on March 26 by former PM, H D Deve Gowda, railway minister, Suresh Prabhu, and chief minister, Siddaramaiah, by flagging off Yeshwantpur-Hassan passenger train. But Kudla Express will not run that way, it is said. South-western railway, it is said, is in short supply of rakes. It may take several months before the shortage of rakes is addressed and Kudla Express begins its scheduled run.

The passenger train and inter-city express trains being introduced on the newly laid tracks between Hassan and Bengaluru are extensions of existing trains and not new.