Title - Mangalore : Footbridge work on track at Mangalore Central

The second footbridge at the Mangalore Central Railway Station will be completed this year, according to Piyush Agarwal, Divisional Railway Manager of Palakkad Division of Southern Railway.

A railway release issued on Thursday quoted him as saying that the construction of footbridges at Mangalore and at the Palakkad station were in progress.

He was speaking at the celebration of the 66 Independence Day in the divisional headquarters. Railway sources said the second footbridge would prevent overcrowding on the existing one particularly during peak hours and pave the way for passengers to come out of the station from an alternative exit point. The second footbridge will be wider than the existing one.

Mr. Agarwal said the Railways had commissioned doubling of tracks between Mangalore Junction and the the Netravathi river while completing the infrastructure improvement in the freight train examination facility at the Mangalore Junction.

The official pointed out that an incinerator had been installed at Shoranur for effective disposal of garbage. Based on its performance, incinerators would be installed at other stations, he added.

Passenger earnings up

He said the division had done well by raking up more passenger earnings in the first quarter. The earnings had increased to Rs. 136 crore from Rs. 126 crore marking an 8 per cent increase compared to last year.

The number of passengers increased to 2.63 crore registering a 6 per cent increase over the last year. As many as 215 special summer trains were operated between April and June.

The Divisional Railway Manager said the division had achieved 2.314 million tonnes of originating loading, registering a whopping 70.5 per cent increase over the last year. On August 4, the division recorded highest-ever daily loading at 468 wagons.

He said that athlete Tintu Luka, an employee of the division, had reached the semi-finals of the London Olympics in 800 metres race for women.