Title - : ‘Cancellation of train service to Bijapur a shock’

Members and office-bearers of the Bijapur Broad-guage Committee and Karnataka State Railway Development Agitation Committee travelled to Hubli on Tuesday and staged a dharna in front of the office of the General Manager of the South Western Railway in Hubli in support of their demands.They said injustice had been meted out to the people of Bijapur, as the services of existing trains had been withdrawn. At a time when the people of the region were demanding more trains in the Bijapur-Bagalkot-Gadag section, the decision by SWR officials to cancel the services of the Hubli-Bijapur-Hubli train (01493/94) from July 1 had come as a rude shock.Office-bearers of the committees said that although a journey period of 13 hours had been fixed for the Gol Gumbaz Express in the railway timetable, it was not being followed.They also demanded an Intercity Express between Gadag and Bijapur, revision in the timings of the Solapur-Hubli train and early initiation of the Bagalkot-Kudchi railway line project.