Title - Run Sampark Kranti via Hubli-Dharwad daily: MPs

Pralhad Joshi, MP, has urged the Railway Minister Mukul Roy to take steps to run Yeshwanthpur- Nizamuddin Karnataka Sampark Kranti Express via Hubli-Dharwad.Mr. Joshi led a delegation of MPs from the State that met Mr. Mukul Roy on Friday. The MPs who were part of the delegation were Suresh Angadi, Shivakumar Udasi, G.M. Siddheshwar, G. Basavaraj, Ramesh Jigajinagi, Ananthkumar Hegde, Ayanur Manjunath, P.C. Gaddigoudar and Nalinkumar Katil.At present the Sampark Kranti Express runs via Hubli-Dharwad only twice a week and on four days it runs via Andhra Pradesh.

The demand
According to a release issued here, the State delegation apprised the Railway Minister on the need for running the train via Hubli-Dharwad on all the days.During the meeting MPs told Mr Roy how the train was more a ‘Andhra Sampark Kranti Express' rather than ‘Karnataka Sampark Kranti' as it touched more places in Andhra Pradesh than in Karnataka.Mr. Joshi brought to the notice of the Minister that it was after the issue was raised on several occasions in Parliament that the express was made to run via Hubli-Dharwad twice a week and the rest of the days the railway passengers from the region did not get the facility.When railway officials expressed apprehension that such a move might lead to protests in Andhra Pradesh, Mr. Joshi and others pointed out that already 10 other express trains were passing through Andhra Pradesh on the same route and it would be illogical to run a train meant for the people of Karnataka via Andhra Pradesh.

The outcome
According to the release, Mr. Mukul Roy directed the members (Traffic) of the Railway Board to immediately call a meeting of all the MPs who had met him and initiate steps to meet their main demand. The Minister also promised that he would initiate steps, if the issue was not sorted out at the railway board level.