Vande Bharat train from Mangaluru to Goa by October-end: Kateel

The Railway Ministry has informed that a Vande Bharat Express will be made operational from Mangaluru to Goa by October-end, BJP Karnataka unit president and Daskhina Kannada MP Nalin Kumar Kateel has said.

Kateel said in a statement here that Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has assured that the express train will start operations from Mangaluru.

The MP said he received an assurance to this effect during his meeting with the Railway Minister in New Delhi on Friday. He said he has requested the minister not to yield to the demand from Kerala to extend the Bengaluru-Kannur train up to Kochi. The Minister has responded positively to the suggestion, he said. He said the proposal to run an early morning train from Subrahmanya Road station to Mangaluru and evening train from Mangaluru to Subrahmanya Road has also been approved.

The MP said an appeal has also been made to the minister to include Mangaluru in the Mysuru division of South West Railway (SWR) instead of the Palakkad division of Southern Railway.