Mangaluru : Southern Railway’s Palakkad Division on Monday, November 4, said the twin Railway under Bridge (RuB) at Mahakalipadpu on Morgan’s Gate-Jeppinamogaru Cross (NH 66) will be complete by the end of January 2025.

Preliminary work for the last of the four boxes has commenced, albeit a bit delayed by the continued rains, a Railway official informed the quarterly review meeting of Railway works chaired by Capt. Brijesh Chowta, Dakshina Kannada MP.

Capt. Chowta and D. Vedavyasa Kamath, Mangaluru City South MLA, asked Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) Commissioner C.L. Anand to work along with Mangaluru Smart City Ltd. to complete the approach roads to the twin RuBs by the time Railways completed the work. The twin RuBs are part of Morgan’s Gate-Jeppinamogaru Cross four-lane road being executed by MSCL for which Nalin Kumar Kateel, the then MP, had laid the foundation stone in March 2021.

The official also said the Railways has reduced the closure duration of the level crossing gate at Pandeshwar on the Mangaluru Central-Bunder Goods Shed line on Mangaladevi Road from an average of 9 minutes to 3.5 minutes. The number of rakes shunted to the Goods Shed too are reduced with the LC gate getting closed 47 times during 31 days of October.

The MP asked MCC to widen about 50 m each approach road on either side of the LC gate. He also directed the MCC to hasten the feasibility study for constructing a road overbridge at the LC Gate to avoid inconvenience to motorists.

Responding to Mangaluru City South MLA Y. Bharath Shetty’s demand for the construction of the second RoB on the busy Surathkal-Bajpe Road, a Konkan Railway Corporation Ltd. official said the Corporation had submitted an estimate for Rs 13 crore for the RoB and Rs 4 crore for a foot overbridge in 2018 to MCC. However, the MCC did not get back. Capt. Chowta directed MCC to take forward the proposal.

KRCL Regional Railway Manager at Karwar Asha Shetty informed the meeting that full-length platform shelters and platform resurfacing would be executed at Surathkal and Mulky stations at Rs 1.57 crore and ₹1.46 crore respectively within this financial year.

Capt. Chowta expressed displeasure over the slow pace of execution of ABSS works at Subrahmanya Road and Bantwal Stations under South Western Railway and Mangaluru Junction under Southern Railway. He directed the zones to speed up the work, a dream project of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Deputy Commissioner M.P. Mullai Muhilan coordinated the meeting attended among others by Umanath Kotian, Moodbidri MLA, Mangaluru Mayor Manoj Kumar, K. Anil Kumar, Palakkad Additional DRM, and DCP (Crime and Traffic) B.P. Dinesh Kumar.