This train between Mangaluru-Yesvantpur was announced by D.V. Sadananda Gowda when he was the Minister of Railways

Mangaluru/ Mysuru – Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu yesterday inaugurated the much-awaited Yesvantpur-Mangaluru Junction-Yesvantpur Tri-Weekly Kudla Express  along with several key infra and passenger amenity works across Karnataka, Goa and Maharashtra States through video-link from Panjim (Goa).

At a function organised at Mangaluru Jn. Railway Station,  D.V. Sadananda Gowda (DVS), Union Minister for Statistics & Programme Implementation, said he was very delighted to be present as this train between Mangaluru and Yesvantpur was announced by him when he was the Minister of Railways at the Centre.

He lauded the efforts of Nalin Kumar Kateel,  Lok Sabha MP from Dakshina Kannada, for being steadfast in ensuring the commissioning of this train service along with other key infra projects for the region.

DVS also stated that over Rs.1,600 crore was earmarked during his tenure as Minister for Railway projects in the State (excluding cost sharing projects)with several important ones in Dakshina Kannada District.

He also said that he recently had a series of meetings with Minister of Railways and top officials in the Ministry of Railways to push for a separate Division for Mangaluru for rapid growth of infra projects in the area.

He appealed the Railway Officials to find ways to extend the services to Mangaluru Central as also to reduce the running time to about seven hours from the present nine hours.

Nalin Kumar Kateel, B. Ramanath Rai, Minister for Forests & Environment, Ivan D’Souza, Chief Whip, Karnataka Legislative Council, Lobo, Mangaluru MLA, Meenakshi Shanthigodu, President, Dakshina Kannada Zilla Panchayat and Kavita Sanil, Mayor of Mangaluru City Corporation, were present on  the occasion.

Atul Gupta, Divisional Railway Manager, South Western Railway (SWR), Mysuru and Naveen Lalwani, Divisional Railway Manager, Southern Railway, Palghat and other senior Railway officials were present during the flagging off of the newly-introduced Kudla Express services, according to a press release from S.G. Yatish, Sr. Divisional Commercial Manager, SWR, Mysuru.