BJP threatens ‘rail roko’ on Saturday

Udupi: K. Raghupati Bhat, MLA, said on Wednesday that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers would block the Matsyagandha Express in Udupi at 1.30 p.m. on Saturday and stage a “rail roko” against the extension of train services, which runs between Mumbai and Mangalore, to Thiruvananthapuram.                Addressing presspersons here, Mr. Bhat said the Matsyagandha Express was serving the people of three coastal districts who visited Mumbai. But recently the Indian Railways extended this train to Thiruvananthapuram, which had deprived seat reservation for passengers in Udupi and Mangalore.

This was the only train from Mangalore on the Konkan Railway route and it should be retained. The Indian Railways could start a separate train from Thiruvananthapuram on this route to cater to the demands of the people there, he said.

The Janashatabdhi Express, which was earlier running between Mumbai and Mangalore, was now running between Mumbai and Madgaon in Goa. It was no longer entering Karnataka. This train should be allowed to run between Mumbai and Mangalore as before, he said and added that all these instances showed that the Union Railways Ministry was meting out a step-motherly treatment to coastal districts of Karnataka, he charged.