Mangalore : Here is some good news for people of coastal Karnataka who have been waiting for years to take a direct night train to Bangalore city. The South Western Railway authorities filed a statement before the high court stating that night train service to Karwar will become operational from Wednesday night.

Oscar Fernandes, MP will flag off the bifurcated Yeshwantpur — Kannur — Yeshwantpur express at a function to be held at Mangalore Central Railway Station.

As per the statement, there will be 18 coaches in train No. 16517-16518, plying between Yeshwantpur-Mangalore-Kannur. The train will be bifurcated at Mangalore. Thirteen coaches will head towards Karwar and the rest to Kannur. However, railway authorities have refused to increase the number of coaches to 24, citing safety concerns on the Sakleshpur-Subramanya Ghat section.

On the last occasion, a division bench headed by Chief Justice Vikramajit Sen had asked the railway authorities to indicate a positive response by November 1, usually the time when railways’ time-table gets modified. Advocates Shankar Bhat and others have filed a PIL seeking a night train service between Bangalore-Karwar via Mangalore, Udupi using the Konkan rail route.

The Udupi Railway Yatri Sangha had hailed the recent judgment of Karnataka high court on splitting the coaches of 16517 night train and sending coaches to Kannur and the rest to Karwar. Railway authorities’ not withstanding opposition from people of coastal Karnataka had extended the night train to Kannur on December 14, 2009, overlooking strident demands that the train be extended instead to Karwar.-Times of India