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Much-awaited Indrali railway vehicular traffic bridge inaugurated

By Editor

Posted on September 22, 2025

Much-awaited Indrali railway vehicular traffic bridge inaugurated

Udupi: The much-awaited Indrali railway vehicular traffic bridge was inaugurated by Union Minister of State for Railways V. Somanna on Sunday.

Speaking after inaugurating the new additional railway overbridge (RoB) on the Malpe-Tirthahalli National Highway 169A atop Mangaluru-Mumbai Railway line at Indrali, Mr. Somanna said that the Udupi Railway Station under Konkan Railway Corporation Ltd. (KRCL) would also be developed on the lines of Mangaluru Junction Railway Station under ABSS. However, he did not elaborate on the issue further.

While the Railway Ministry initially did not include KRCL stations under ABSS, it later included Madgaon in Goa and Udupi in Karnataka. Though the formal announcement of Udupi’s inclusion was made in January 2024, there has been no progress since then. Patrons and citizens had hoped Mr. Somanna would clarify the issue, as Udupi has been a prominent station catering to religious, healthcare, and educational tourism.

The inauguration of the additional RoB, done in the presence of Kota Srinivas Poojary, MP for Udupi-Chikkamagaluru, MLAs Yashpal Suvarna, V. Sunil Kumar, Gurme Suresh Shetty, A. Kiran Kumar Kodgi and Gururaj Gantihole and former Minister Pramod Madhwaraj, thus brought to an end nearly eight years of road users’ ordeal in negotiating the two-lane existing RoB between Udupi and Manipal.

Mr Somanna used the occasion to highlight the Modi government’s commitment to railway development, particularly in the State of Karnataka. He said while UPA governments had made only promises during elections, the NDA government had given top priority to completing long-pending projects.

“Compared to the grant given by the present government over the last 11 years, the previous UPA government did not even give 25% of that amount to Karnataka,” he said.

Speaking about the ongoing and upcoming works, Mr. Somanna said that Chikkamagalur Railway Station would be developed under the ABSS at a cost of ₹22 crore.

On infrastructure projects, the Minister said that the electrification of the 165 km Chikkabanavar–Hassan line was completed at a cost of ₹187 crore.

The proposal for a new line between Subrahmanya Road-Udupi via Dharmasthala and Karkala was submitted to Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, he added.

Deputy Commissioner T.K. Swaroopa, Superintendent of Police Hariram Shankar and others were present.