Passenger amenities committee assures to get new platforms work at Mangaluru Central completed by July end

The Passenger amenities committee of Southern Railway’s Palakkad Division on June 17, said it will ask the Division to expedite the construction of two new platforms at Mangaluru Central Railway Station so as to complete them by July-end.

The Passenger amenities committee of Southern Railway’s Palakkad Division on June 17, said it will ask the division to expedite the construction of two new platforms at Mangaluru Central Railway Station so as to complete them by July-end.

Headed by P.K. Krishna Das, the committee was on a visit to railway stations under Palakkad Division, including Mangaluru Central and Mangaluru Junction. A delegation of social activists comprising G.K. Bhat and Narasimha Hegde from Mangaluru and Laxminarayana from Bantwal met the Committee members at Central and submitted a memorandum comprising various requirements for Mangaluru Railway region.

Principal among them was the speeding up of two additional platforms construction at Mangaluru Central-Platforms No. 4 and 5—work on which was going on for more than a year. Additional platforms would have facilitated introduction of more trains towards Bengaluru and Mumbai from Mangaluru.

Mr. Das reportedly assured the delegation that he would ask the Palakkad division to expedite the work and directed Senior Divisional Operations Manager N.R. Arun Thomas to get the things done immediately.

The delegation noted that the Railway Ministry’s promise to get world-class buildings for the central stations has remained a mere promise for over a decade and urged the committee to get the same in place of the existing century-old building. It said the Bay Platform on the northern side of the Central should be extended to hold a 14-coach train instead of the present 8 coaches. One more prepaid auto-rickshaw counter was required at the second entry to central.

Regretting the absence of electronic coach position display boards at Central, the delegation urged the committee to provide the same. As the goods shed in Bunder was planned to be shifted to Ullal, Bunder should be developed as the coaching depot to relieve as much space at Central.

It said the existing foot over bridge from PF 1 to PF 3 should be extended to connect new PFs 4 and 5 and also the second entry at Attavara. All platforms at the Central should be provided with drinking water vending machines.