It was 1995... or was it earlier? The rail link between Mangalore and Bangalore was removed... Why? It was a meter gauge then and was supposed to be converted into broad gauge in 4-5 years...
2007, 12 years later... The rail link is complete and the 1st passenger train chugs its way from Mangalore into Bangalore for the 1st time after 12 years...The dream of every Mangalorean came true... Having a rail link to almost all parts of India (including Jammu Tavi), this place was not connected to its own state capital...
These 12 years have been a boon for the bus lobby which had been minting money from all corners which left the wary passenger with not much choice... Either pay 300 odd bucks and travel to Bangalore over the night, or cough up 3k for a flight ticket, not to forget the cost of journey between airports and final destination...
All said and done, this looks like a happy ending... as the saying goes.. and I quote reminding me of Shaks' latest post: Bhagwan ke yahaan der hai, andher nahi...
But is the picture what it looks like??
Ok... for the uninitiated, the train travels through what is called the "Kashmir of the South" Shiradi Ghat section, with about 57 tunnels within a gap of 40 odd KMs with some of the steepest gradient for a broad gauge in India, about 50 meters for every Kilometer for 30 KMs (not sure, remember reading somewhere)
Now, the entire journey is timed during the night and there is very minimal chance of watching this 55 KM section of splendid scenery. Another catch is of the journey itself.
There are 2 routes of getting into Bangalore.
One via the Hassan - Arsikere - Tumkur - Bangalore route about 350 kms
The other Hassan - Mysore - Bangalore - 410 kms
The trains take the latter route, which increases travel time by atleast 1.5 hrs and a distance increase of 60 kilometers. Thus, it artificially escalates the price of the journey, and thus could result in reduced demand. At the end of the day, the railway authorities can easily get away by washing their hands and claiming "financially not viable"
The price for a 3 tier AC is Rs. 611 in comparison with a Volvo charge of Rs. 400 one way
It doesnt stop there. The other aspect is of the illegal mining lobby which transports manganese ore and other minerals from Bellary and other areas into Mangalore port to be shipped to China. This being very profitable, goods are being transported by train. There are already 9 goods train running on this line ranging from petroleum, gas, minerals and other materials. They run via the Arsikere route and are given preference over passenger trains...
Is the railway, being a governmental agency, try to increase revenue by the way of compromising consideration for the passenger (here, customer) and that too making him pay for the route that is not favorable?
Is it a dream that will be short lived and that the railways could buckle under the lobby pressure?
Only time can tell...
Some of the snaps of the rail link: earlier it was a haven for all trekkers trekking 20 odd kms on these unlaid tracks
2007, 12 years later... The rail link is complete and the 1st passenger train chugs its way from Mangalore into Bangalore for the 1st time after 12 years...The dream of every Mangalorean came true... Having a rail link to almost all parts of India (including Jammu Tavi), this place was not connected to its own state capital...
These 12 years have been a boon for the bus lobby which had been minting money from all corners which left the wary passenger with not much choice... Either pay 300 odd bucks and travel to Bangalore over the night, or cough up 3k for a flight ticket, not to forget the cost of journey between airports and final destination...
All said and done, this looks like a happy ending... as the saying goes.. and I quote reminding me of Shaks' latest post: Bhagwan ke yahaan der hai, andher nahi...
But is the picture what it looks like??
Ok... for the uninitiated, the train travels through what is called the "Kashmir of the South" Shiradi Ghat section, with about 57 tunnels within a gap of 40 odd KMs with some of the steepest gradient for a broad gauge in India, about 50 meters for every Kilometer for 30 KMs (not sure, remember reading somewhere)
Now, the entire journey is timed during the night and there is very minimal chance of watching this 55 KM section of splendid scenery. Another catch is of the journey itself.
There are 2 routes of getting into Bangalore.
One via the Hassan - Arsikere - Tumkur - Bangalore route about 350 kms
The other Hassan - Mysore - Bangalore - 410 kms
The trains take the latter route, which increases travel time by atleast 1.5 hrs and a distance increase of 60 kilometers. Thus, it artificially escalates the price of the journey, and thus could result in reduced demand. At the end of the day, the railway authorities can easily get away by washing their hands and claiming "financially not viable"
The price for a 3 tier AC is Rs. 611 in comparison with a Volvo charge of Rs. 400 one way
It doesnt stop there. The other aspect is of the illegal mining lobby which transports manganese ore and other minerals from Bellary and other areas into Mangalore port to be shipped to China. This being very profitable, goods are being transported by train. There are already 9 goods train running on this line ranging from petroleum, gas, minerals and other materials. They run via the Arsikere route and are given preference over passenger trains...
Is the railway, being a governmental agency, try to increase revenue by the way of compromising consideration for the passenger (here, customer) and that too making him pay for the route that is not favorable?
Is it a dream that will be short lived and that the railways could buckle under the lobby pressure?
Only time can tell...
Some of the snaps of the rail link: earlier it was a haven for all trekkers trekking 20 odd kms on these unlaid tracks
