New Delhi: Mysuru-Kodagu MP Pratap Simha has expressed his gratitude to the Railway Ministry for improving connectivity from Mysuru to various destinations. 

In his speech on Demands for Grants under the Control of the Ministry of Railways for 2020-21 in Lok Sabha yesterday, Pratap Simha thanked the Railway Ministry for financial grants that has led to seamless connectivity from Mysuru and other cities. 

He thanked PM Modi, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal and his Deputy Suresh Angadi, former Railway Ministers Suresh Prabhu and D.V. Sadananda Gowda for many projects undertaken keeping Mysuru in mind, especially the track doubling and electrification work between Mysuru and Bengaluru, a project that was initiated in 2003 when Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the Prime Minister. 

“The project was languishing under the 10-year UPA rule and now the Narendra Modi Government completed it and I am thankful to the PM and the Railway Ministers and I could accomplish the same as the MP from Mysuru constituency,” he said and also mentioned the mammoth task of translocating 228-year-old and 1,050-tonne Tipu armoury that came between the track doubling and the special grant of Rs. 13 crore that was sanctioned for the translocation. 

He also mentioned the sanctioning of six new trains, including Vishvamanava Express, Palace Queen Humsafar Express, Mainline Electric Multiple Unit trains, Varanasi train and a host of other trains that have been extended till Mysuru. “These trains have proved a boon to thousands of passengers from Mysuru who regularly travel to destinations including Chennai, Hyderabad and Thiruvananthapuram,” he told the Lok Sabha. 

He also mentioned in his speech about funds being sanctioned to Mysuru-Kushalnagar train, new Satellite Station at Naganahalli and Railway Container Yard (Container Corporation of India) at Kadakola and the refurbishment of the Mysuru Railway Museum. 

During the speech, the MP did not forget to mention the contribution of Piyush Goyal in starting many flights from Mysuru that had earlier only one flight. 

“During his first visit to Mysuru in 2017, the then Union Minister of State for Energy, Coal, New and Renewable Energy and Mines Piyush Goyal came in a private jet.  As soon as he arrived at the Mysore Airport, he said, ‘Mysuru is a beautiful place.’ I told him that there is only one flight from the airport to Chennai. Goyal immediately called Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha, asking him to introduce more flights,” Pratap Simha told the Lok Sabha. 

“Due to Piyush Goyal’s initiative and the UDAN scheme launched by the Narendra Modi Government, today we have eight daily flights from Mysuru,” the MP said.