Title - Kadur-Chikmagalur train to chug off soon

The long-cherished dream of people in the district to have railway connectivity is likely to come true in a month’s time if the words of South Western Railway (SWR) general manager A K Mittal are any indication.

Railway work on the Kadur-Chikmagalur route, that have been limping for over a decade due to various reasons, have picked up and 95 per cent of the work is complete. With five per cent of work left, the trains are likely to chug off by October.

The Chikmagalur railway project stormed into the news after late Indira Gandhi contested from this constituency and won, thereby getting a new political rebirth. If the Kadur-Chikmagalur rail starts functioning ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, it will give a boost to the United Progressive Alliance (UPA). In all probability, the sound of the train siren will be heard shortly.

A team of officials led by Mittal inspected the ongoing works, which are in their final stage, at Sakrayapatna, Kanivehally, Hoskote and Chikmagalur.  In an exclusive talk with Express, Mittal explained reasons for the delay, saying that land and funds were the main constraints. However, he hastened to add that substantial progress had been achieved over the last two years because of the cooperation of the union and state governments.

The final nod for the project has to be secured from the Railway Safety Authority Commissioner. If that is cleared, the train services will be launched within a month’s time, he said.

Replying to the economic viability of the line, Mittal said it would reduce the distance, besides establishing a link to Mangalire via Belur and Sakleshpur, thus earning a lot of freight revenue. Railway Tourism can be boosted since the region has a number of tourist inplaces, including the world-famous Belur and Halebid.

If wind mills are installed, 30 kV of power can be generated, Mittal said and urged the civil contractor to widen the space before the ticket counter.

CEO Radhesh Sharma expressed happiness over the satisfactory completion of works and the greenery  around the Chikmagalur railway station.

Earlier, the team inspected the staff colony, service sector, over-bridge, ticket counter and the railway works.

Railway’s Mysore division manager Vinod Kumar was part of the team.