The long-pending demand of the people of Bidar district was realised with the introduction of Bidar-Yeshwantpur tri-weekly express train, Union Railway Minister Mallikarjun Kharge said on Sunday.
He was addressing the gathering at the inaugural function of the train at Bidar railway station in the city. He said that works for providing all amenities at Bidar station are also in progress.
Kharge said that `450 crore is required for completion of Bidar-Gulbarga railway line and one-third of the work has been completed so far. The Union and State Governments have sanctioned `60 crore each for the project.
He said that there are two more districts (Chikmagalur and Kodagu) yet to get direct rail connectivity to Bangalore. Laying of railway line between Chikmagalur-Kadur-Hassan has begun and a proposal has been sent to the Planning Department for laying of railway line between Mysore and Kodagu via Kushalnagar. The work will begin after getting nod from the Planning Department, he added.
After the inaugural address, Kharge flagged off the train.
Former chief minister and Bidar MP N Dharam Singh said that introduction of Bidar-Yeshwantpur express train comes as a blessing to the people of the district.
Women and Child Welfare and District Minister Umashree said that the new train will help development of trade and tourism in the region.
Ministers Sharanprakash Patil, Baburao Chinchansur and Qamar-ul-Islam, MLAs Gurupadappa Nagamarapalli, Eshwar Khandre, Rajashekhar Patil, Ashok Kheny, Mallikarjun Khuba, Prabhu Chauhan and Dr Malakareddy, MLCs Basavaraj Patil Humanabad, Raghunath Malkapure and others were present.
‘Gulbarga Railway Division on Cards’
Union Railway Minister Mallikarjun Kharge said that forming a new Railway Division with Gulbarga as the headquarter is under consideration.
He told reporters that a new railway division formation cannot be done overnight. The department has to studied the reports given by the committees constituted for the purpose, he added.
The upgradation of the Solapur-Yeshwantpur Express train to a daily one and introduction of Humnabad-Bidar push-pull train may take some more time, he said.
The Solapur-Yeshwantpur Express is now running thrice a week and it was planned to upgrade it to a daily train from September 15. But this plan has been put off for some more days. The minister assured that it would be done in September itself. Kharge said that the introduction of new push-pull train from Humnabad to Bidar scheduled on October 2, has also postponed.
Railways Needs to Move Cautiously: Kharge
Gulbarga: Indian Railways has to move cautiously on its new projects, including introducing new trains as it is facing paucity of funds, Union Railway Minister Mallikarjun Kharge said on Sunday.
He told reporters here that the 12th Five Year Plan size of Indian Railways was `5.47 lakh crore, and this would mean the Railways had to get over `1 lakh crore every year. The plan size has been cut about 50 per cent and due to this we can expect only 50 to 60 per cent achievement, Kharge said. Besides coal has become expensive due to rains and transportation of fertiliser has also come down which has added to the woes of Railways, he said. The Railways has also not received funds to take up projects under the PPP model. "We have demanded additional funds apart from what is allotted in the Railway Budget from the Finance Department. But we have not yet received any response so far," he said.
To a question, he said that as of now there is no proposal to increase passenger tariff. “But we cannot say anything for certain,” he added.