Capt. Chowta seeks extension of Gomateshwara Express to Mangaluru Central

Capt. Brijesh Chowta, Dakshina Kannada MP, has urged Southern Railway to extend Train No. 16575/576 Yeshwantpur-Mangaluru Junction-Yeshwantpur tri-weekly Gomateshwara Express to Mangaluru Central at the earliest.

Capt. Brijesh Chowta, Dakshina Kannada MP, has urged Southern Railway to extend Train No. 16575/576 Yeshwantpur-Mangaluru Junction-Yeshwantpur tri-weekly Gomateshwara Express to Mangaluru Central at the earliest.

In a letter to the General Manager of SR recently, the MP noted that the service was originally sanctioned as Yeshwantpur-Mangaluru Central-Yeshwantpur tri-weekly express to run during the day. However, it was operated only till Mangaluru Junction citing platform constraints at Central.

Demand for its operation out of Mangaluru Central has been pending for long and people of Mangaluru, members of Divisional Railway Users’ Consultative Committee, and members of Paschima Karavali Rail Yatri Abhivriddhi Samiti have been demanding its extension to Central, he said.

Capt. Chowta noted that there should be no constraints at present to extend the service to Central as two additional platforms and a new pitline have come up. Also, construction of an additional stabling line was expected to be completed by March, 2025. With the recent extension of the Kacheguda-Mangaluru Central-Kacheguda bi-weekly express to Murdeshwar also, enough space was created for the extension, the MP noted.

He also told Southern Railway that people from Mangaluru city wanted a day train connecting Bengaluru to Central.

Southern Railway’s Palakkad division had been citing platform constraints as the reason for introduction of any new train or extension of existing services out of Mangaluru Central. With Platforms 4 and 5 at Central getting completed and the demand for extension of Gomateshwara Express to Central getting louder, the division has now been citing ongoing construction of an additional stabling line.

Once the additional stabling line at Central gets completed, Gomateshwara Express might be extended, senior officials said.