In its new decision, the Indian Railways has announced to resume intrastate services. On behalf of this, the South Western Railways (SWR) approved commencement of two trains in Karnataka from May 22. According to an order issued by the SWR, the two special trains allotted in Karnataka are the Bengaluru - Hubli - Belagavi and Mysore -- Bengaluru Special Express.
Bookings open via IRCTC portal
The bookings for these trains will be carried online through the IRCTC website. These trains, as per the sources, will be the first intrastate trains to be run by the Railways since it suspension of the passenger services due to the coronavirus induced lockdown.
"Intrastate special trains started in Karnataka. Bengaluru - Belagavi and Bengaluru - Mysore expresses to begin with 100%. Passengers have to book the tickets online. These trains will help the people who were stranded during lockdown," tweeted Minister of State for Railways Suresh Angadi.
The Railways had begun the Shramik Special trains from May 1 to ferry the stranded migrant workers in different parts of the country. In addition to this, special train services were allowed by the Railways to help transport other stranded people including students, and tourists. 15 pairs of these special trains on the Rajdhani route have been running, connecting major cities to Delhi from May 12.
Meanwhile, the Railways has also announced that it will also begin operations of non-air conditioned passenger train services for all routes from June 1.
Two intrastate trains for Karnataka
The Bengaluru-Belagavi service would depart Bengaluru at 8 am, reach Hubli at 3.25 pm and Belagavi at 4.30 pm; and would leave Belagavi at 8 am, Hubli at 10.50 a.m. to reach back Bengaluru at 4.30 pm.
It would have stops at Yeshwantpur, Tumakuru, Arsikere, Birur, Chikkajajur, Davangere, Harihar, Ranebennur, Haveri, Hubli, and Dharwad, said the officials.
From Bengaluru, the train would operate on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays; while from Belagavi, on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
The Bengaluru-Mysuru daily express special on the other hand, would depart Bengaluru at 9.20 a.m. to reach Mysuru at 12.45 pm while in its return, it would depart Mysuru at 1.45 pm to reach Bengaluru at 5 pm.
The train would have stops at Kengeri, Ramanagaram, Maddur, Mandya, Pandavapura, and Naganahalli.