M'lore- B'lore train chugs on again

The much-awaited train between Mangalore and Bangalore was flagged off at the Mangalore Central Railway Station, by Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav.

Inaugurating the last link of the broad gauge section between Subrahmanya Road and Sakleshpur the Railway Minister blamed the 'Bus Truck Mafia' for the delay in commissioning the railway line and ruled out privatisation of Railways in any manner.

Though non-committal on the various demands put forward by the elected representatives of the region the Railway Minister however promised that some grievances could be addressed in his forthcoming budget and the entire Karnataka state would get attention if proper presentations were made.

The objective was to make the Railways reach the hinterlands of the country and make its services available to the common man, the minister stressed. Diesel consumption of mammoth proportions was true in the case of Railways, and the solution lay in 'Total Electrification' of routes and more power generation, he said.

The turnaround in the revenue generation capacity of the Railways was incredible and the profits now stood at Rs 20,000 crore this fiscal he said.

Lamenting the fact that 60 per cent of the country's freight load was borne by the roadways, the minister said a 'dedicated freight corridor' in railway operations would soon a reality. A third line would be commissioned and an amount of Rs 25,000 crore had already been allocated for the purpose he said.

Governor Rameshwar Thakur in his address said that his state was among the foremost in the matter of sharing cost of railway projects. Presently, for six projects the state had contributed Rs 292.75 crore, he said.