BENGALURU: The Centre is looking at operating private trains in eight routes from Karnataka, seven of them from the upcoming Third Coaching Terminal Baiyappanahalli in the Bengaluru Railway Division. The Ministry of Railways and Niti Aayog have made public the details of its proposal in 150 passenger trains across the country along 100 different routes, to transform this network into a ‘world class service’.The seven routes proposed from Baiyappanahalli cover cities spread across six states-Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Tamil Nadu, Kolkata and Jharkhand. The only route not proposed from Bengaluru Division is Kalaburagi to Panvel.
These are the routes proposed from Baiyappanahalli terminal: Pataliputra station; Gorakhpur station and Pragyaraj station; Guwahati station; Tambaram station; Shalimar station; and Hatia station. Some passengers want Mumbai to be connected to Bengaluru. A representative of the Karnataka Rail Users group said, “If we can have a superfast express that can cover Bengaluru and Mumbai, within 18 to 19 hours, it will make a big difference to commuters. The existing Udyan Express takes nearly 24 hours to cover the distance.” The group has tweeted to Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal, Minister of State for Railways Suresh C Angadi, and MPs PC Mohan, Sadananda Gowda and Tejasvi Surya to ensure the said route be added to the proposed list.
Chief public relations officer, South Western Railways, E Vijaya said that only the draft has been released. “The modalities for inviting private participation for running trains on select routes are being worked out by the Railways Ministry. Discussions with all stakeholders will be held,” she said. The proposal also fixed the haulage charge at Rs 668 per kilometre for the private operator.