Title - Reintroduce Dharwad-Yeshwantpur Chalukya Express, Railways urged

The Indian Travellers’ Association (ITA) has urged the Union Railway Ministry to reintroduce the Dadar-Yeshwantpur Chalukya Express (Train no. 11017/11018) daily train.

The Ministry of Railways had extended Train No. 11017/11018 Dadar-Yeshwantpur-Dadar Chalukya Express (6 days a week) to Puducherry and Tirunelveli for 3 days a week each, from November 9, 2012.

Following the extension, the train had been re-numbered as Train nos. 11005/11006 Dadar-Puducherry-Dadar Express (Tri-Weekly) and Train nos. 11021/11022 Dadar-Tirunelveli-Dadar Express (Tri-Weekly).

In a letter to the Union Minister for Railways Mallikarjun Kharge, ITA spokesperson Uttam Osatiya said the extension of services had badly affected passengers from Karnataka, because the reservation quota of 18 stations on the Yeshwantpur-Hubli-Miraj rail route had been reduced. Passengers boarding from these stations were unable to get reservations in spite of vacancies from the originating stations.

As there was no alternative train, passengers were forced to travel by bus. Mr. Osatiya said passengers were buying tickets from Jolarpet or Salem and getting the boarding point changed to Hubli or Belgaum. They were paying Rs. 125 to Rs. 150 extra for sleeper class tickets, so as to get reservations.

The association requested the Railways Ministry to introduce a new train from Dadar/Mumbai CST to Yeshwantpur /Bangalore, like the previous one which had been running for the last 20 years.

Mr. Osatiya suggested that the new train could depart at 9.30 p.m. from Dadar and return from Yeshwantpur at 6.30 p.m., similar to the earlier timings.

The departure time of the Dadar-Puducherry/Tirunelveli could be changed from 9.30 p.m. to 11 p.m. from Dadar. On the return journey, the train could depart from Yeshwantpur at 5 a.m. to reach Mumbai at 5 a.m., he said.

If it was not possible to introduce another train, the Railways should attach six sleeper coaches, one 3-tier AC, and one 2-tier AC to Train nos. 11005/11006/11021/11022 and detach them at Yeshwantpur so that these coaches could cater to passengers from Karnataka, he said.

Mr. Osatiya has urged the Ministry to cancel the extension given to the Chalukya Express with immediate effect and run the train only up to Yeshwantpur so that it could benefit the people of the State, especially of north Karnataka.