Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (SP)

Mangaluru, Mar 29: Union railway minister, Suresh Prabhu, gave an assurance to Dakshina Kannada member of parliament, Nalin Kumar Kateel, to start operations of much-awaited Kudla Express train between Bengaluru and the city via Shravanabelagola and Hassan route within a month.

The promise came on Tuesday March 28 when the MP met the railway minister at New Delhi on Tuesday March 28.

Kateel, on this occasion, urged the minister to see that this train is operated from Central station here instead of Junction station as proposed by Palakkad division of railways. He also handed over a memorandum to the minister seeking to install additional platform at Central railway station here, and to complete track doubling work between Netravati Cabin to Central railway station at the earliest.

Kudla Express was to become a reality on March 26. But only the train between Bengaluru and Hassan was flagged off on that day and the department had said that they could not run this train for want of rakes.

The Palakkad division of the railways has been claiming that there is shortage of platforms in Central railway station for accommodating this train, which was announced when D V Sadananda Gowda when he was the railway minister. As per the original plan, this train was to run from Central railway station.