Title - Pralhad Joshi presents wish list to Mallikarjun Kharge

Elected representatives from the region used the flagging off ceremony of two new trains from Hubli on Wednesday to put forward the various railway demands before Railway Minister M. Mallikarjun Kharge.Since Mr. Kharge had to rush back to Delhi for an evening Cabinet meeting, other speakers were asked to make brief speeches and all of them used the opportunity to put forward a list of railway demands. Beginning his speech by thanking Mr. Kharge for giving new trains, Pralhad Joshi, MP, urged him to make the special trains to Gulbarga and to Kurla daily trains.He urged the Railway Minister to ensure that the Karnataka Sampark Kranti Express became truly ‘Karnataka Sampark Kranti’ by making it run daily through Hubli, Dharwad and Belgaum, instead of running through Andhra Pradesh.Referring to the ongoing upgrade of the Hubli railway station, Mr. Joshi urged the Minister to expedite the work and also release adequate funds to complete pending work.

The MP also asked the Minister to upgrade the Dharwad railway station.

Mr. Kharge was also urged to look into the long-pending Hubli-Ankola rail project, which was currently before the Central Empowered Committee of the apex court.

Prasad Abbayya, MLA, said that the demand for a direct train to Gulbarga had been fulfilled and thanked Mr. Kharge. He supported Mr. Joshi’s plea for expediting the upgrade of the Hubli railway station, and asked the Minister to release funds for railway headquarters and a train from Hubli to Mumbai.

Basavaraj Horatti, former Minister, asked Mr. Kharge to start a new train to Bangalore before the Rani Chennamma Express, “to meet the huge demand.”

Minister for Small Scale Industries Prakash B. Hukkeri asked for conversion of the Miraj-Banglore train into a daily, while Higher Education minister R.V. Deshpande appealed to Mr. Kharge to look into the Hubli-Ankola rail line.

Mr. Deshpande also sought extension of Shimoga-Talaguppa train upto Honnavar.