Mysuru:  Mysuru’s transport got a major boost this morning with the inauguration of two major modes of transport – Road and Railway that add to the existing infrastructure. While road transport received a fillip with the inauguration of Hinkal Flyover that links Mysuru to Kodagu and Dakshina Kannada, train travellers between Mysuru and Bengaluru got an additional train — MEMU (Mainline Electric Multiple Unit) — that adds to the bandwagon of over 30 trains.

The MEMU service was flagged off at the City Railway Station by MP Pratap Simha in the presence of Mayor Pushpalatha Jagannath, MLA L. Nagendra, MLCs Sandesh Nagaraj and Marithibbegowda, Divisional Railway Manager Aparna Garg and Additional Divisional Railway Manager Ajay Sinha.

Though the regular MEMU service from Krantivira Sangolli Rayanna (KSR) Station in Bengaluru will commence from Dec. 26 and the Mysuru service is set to commence from Dec. 27, the inaugural run of the train was flagged off today with over 350 passengers. The fare per person to and fro Mysuru and Bengaluru has been fixed at Rs. 30.

The Bengaluru City-Mysuru MEMU Special will run on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday while the Mysuru-KSR Bengaluru City MEMU Special will run on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. It will depart KSR station at 19:55 hrs (7.55 pm) and arrive in Mysuru at 22:50 hrs (10.50 pm).

The MEMU Special will leave Mysuru at 04:45 hrs (4.45 am) and arrive in Bengaluru at 08:30 hrs (8.30 am).

The train comprises 12 cars (including 3 motorcars and 9 trailing cars). The MEMU service can attain speed capacity up to 110 kmph. While the seating capacity in motor coach is 55, the trailer coach has a seating capacity of 80. The capacity for standing passengers is 171 and 241 respectively. As such, the overall capacity of a 12-car train is over 3,500 passengers.

Speaking on the occasion, MP Pratap Simha said that there is no train that plies from Bengaluru to Mysuru from 7.00 pm to 11.55 pm. “Realising this long gap, I had requested Railway Minister Piyush Goyal to extend the MEMU from Ramanagaram till Mysuru. Along with this MEMU service, the Union government is committed to give a boost to the region in the form of new Railway projects at Naganahalli and other places,”  he said.

The MP added that the MEMU Special will be convenient to thousands of working class people, officers and regular travellers between the two cities.

The only shortcoming in the MEMU service is that the train in its journey from Mysuru to Bengaluru will stop at Ramanagaram for over 40 minutes as there is heavy train traffic on the route during this time and it is tough to get clearance from KSR Station in Bengaluru.

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