BELAGAVI: Union Minister of State for Railways (MoSR) Suresh Angadi had some good news for his home constituency. In the backdrop of rising demands for a change of in the schedule of Rani Chennamma Express that connects Belagavi to Bengaluru, Angadi launched a new train between the two cities.
The Department of Railways said the new train will begin operations on June 29. It will leave Belagavi at 9 pm and arrive in Bengaluru at 7.30 am the next day, on daily basis.
In its return journey, the train will leave Bengaluru at 9 pm and reach Belagavi at 7.30 am, everyday.
Due to the odd timings of Rani Chennamma Express, people from Belagavi region had to travel to Hubballi. As most of the trains passing via Belagavi to Bengaluru are operated as per the convenience of people in the Hubballi region, Angadi decided to have a new train between Belagavi-Bengaluru exclusively for people of Belagavi region.
According to official sources, the new train will reach in Hubballi at 4.40 in the morning from Bengaluru.
Several leaders and people welcomed Angadi’s initiative and said, it was a dream come true for the people of Belagavi. “Most of the private buses operaters between Belagavi and Bengaluru had been harassing people, charging them exorbitantly knowing the fact that there was no other choice for them. Some of the private buses were charging more than Rs 1000 for travel to Bengaluru from Belagavi,” said local leader Ashok Chandargi.
Apart from this, many from Belagavi have been demanding an extension of the Inter-City Hubballi-Bengaluru train to Belagavi as to board this train, people have to reach Hubballi early in the morning.
VTU needs to have rail related curriculum: Angadi
Bengaluru: In a bid to ensure youth from Karnataka have better chances of being absorbed into the Railways workforce, Minister of State for Railways Suresh Angadi on Monday wrote to the Vice Chancellor of Visvesvaraya Technology University (VTU) asking for courses on rail and transport to be introduced in the curriculam. Speaking to The New Indian Express from New Delhi, Angadi said, “Indian Railways has the requirement for all kinds of skilled personnel. I have written to the VC suggesting a
tie-up with the National Rail & Transportation Institute at Vadodara in Gujarat so that youths from Karnataka have a good chance of securing jobs with the Railways after completion of their course.” The letter said that VTU, located in Belagavi, has 20 years of tradition of excellence in Engineering and Technical Education, “I would appreciate it if the institue can think along similar lines and introduce transportation courses in its programmes for students,” the railway minister wrote.