Date:31/07/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/07/31/stories/2006073111880300.htm

Karnataka - Bellary

Hospet-Vasco line doubling proposal to be cleared soon

Staff Correspondent

Plea to improve rail facilities in Hospet-Bellary section by introducing new trains in the sector

Line doubling has been necessitated owing to increase in iron ore traffic from Hospet-Bellary sector to Vasco port
Direct train between Chennai and Vasco is a long-pending demand of passengers

A day train has been sought between Guntakal and Hubli

BELLARY: Proposal for doubling of railway line between Hospet and Vasco, at an estimated cost of Rs. 2,000 crores will be cleared very soon, according to Babulal Jain, member of the National Railway Users' Consultative Committee (NRUCC) New Delhi.

Mr. Jain told The Hindu on Sunday that the proposal for doubling the line between Hospet and Vasco was made in view of the increase in iron ore traffic from Hospet-Bellary sector to Vasco port. He said that he had met J.P. Batra, Chairman of the Railway Board recently and had requested him to clear the project at the earliest besides urging him to improve rail facilities in Hospet-Bellary section by introducing new trains.

He said he told Mr. Batra that Bellary and Hospet sector had been earning high freight revenue to the tune of Rs. 1,500 crores per annum for the Indian Railways but the rail facilities in this region was very poor.

He said that a direct train between Chennai and Vasco, via Hubli Guntakal, was a long-pending demand of passengers, especially in the wake of the rapid industrialisation in Hospet-Bellary-Koppal region. A direct train between Chennai and Vasco via Guntakal, Bellary, and Hospet at least twice a week was necessary.

There has been a vociferous demand to delink train numbers 6591/6592 (Hampi Express) from train nos. 6593/6594 and run as two separate trains. An announcement to this effect was made in June 2005 but it was not implemented.

No connecting train

There were about 75 trains from Mumbai, Delhi, Ahmedabad and Chennai passing through Guntakal. But passengers arriving by these trains hand continue their journey towards Bellary/Hospet/Gadag, were forced to wait for nearly 14 hours at Guntakal in the absence of a connecting train. Hence it was necessary to introduce a day train between Guntakal and Hubli.

Mr. Jain said the railways would run the Vasco-Howrah superfast train via Hubli-Hospet-Bellary from September 1.

Frequency of service

The train would run for four days in a week and for the rest of the days, the train would run between Hubli and Vijayawada as usual (Amaravati Express).

As far as introduction of the weekly train between Yeshwantpur and Ajmer via Bellary-Hospet-Hubli was concerned, he said the railways was expected to announce the date very soon.