Bengaluru–Mangaluru/Karwar day train cancellation during peak Dasara travel season upsets many

South Western Railway’s (SWR) decision to cancel day train services on the Bengaluru-Mangaluru/Karwar sector for 26 round trips during the peak Dasara travel season has upset commuters and passenger associations as well.

The cancellation to facilitate a line block for track maintenance and engineering works between Siribagilu and Yedakumari stations on the Subrahmanya Road-Sakleshpur Ghat section of Mysuru Division will be effective from October 4 to November 4, excluding for about a week between October 16 and October 20.

October is the peak winter travel season in south Karnataka, with schools and colleges observing Dasara holidays. Thousands of people also travel to coastal Karnataka to celebrate Navaratri festivities in their ancestral places and for Mangaluru Dasara, while many head to Mysuru region to witness the Mysuru Dasara, noted G. Hanumanth Kamath, president of Paschima Karavali Railway Yatri Abhivriddhi Samiti.

Lobbies at work?

Stating that the SWR had cancelled the day train services for over six months between June and December 2025 for electrification works on the ghat section, Mr. Kamath questioned the need to undertake maintenance works during the peak travel season.

The Railways could either have done the maintenance during weekdays, avoiding weekends, or scheduled the work next month when travel demand would be lower, he said.

Considering the timing, Mr. Kamath said it raises suspicion about whether lobbies of other modes of transport were behind this cancellation. He urged the railways to postpone the maintenance works until after the Dasara holidays or carry it out during weekdays.

Long overdue

Mysuru Divisional Railway Manager Mudit Mittal said the ballast tamping work was long overdue between Yadakumari-Siribagilu, where landslip had also occurred recently.

“This is the least amount of time required for tamping and other works,” he said, adding that train services would operate during the Dasara week.

Cancelled services

Train No. 16575 Yeshwantpur-Mangaluru Junction Gomateshwara Express has been cancelled on October 4, 6, 8, 11, 13, 15, 22, 25, 27, 29, November 1 and 3. Train No. 16576 Mangaluru Junction-Yeshwantpur Gomateshwara Express stands cancelled on October 5, 7, 9, 12, 14, 16, 23, 26, 28, 30, November 2 and 4.

Train No. 16515 Yeshwantpur-Karwar Express will be cancelled on October 5, 7, 9, 12, 14, 21, 23, 26, 28, 30 and November 2. Train No. 16516 Karwar-Yeshwantpur Express will not run on October 6, 8, 10, 13, 15, 22, 24, 27, 29, 31 and November 3. Train No. 16539 Yeshwantpur-Mangaluru Junction weekly Express will be cancelled on October 10, 24 and 31 and Train No. 16540 Mangaluru Junction-Yeshwantpur weekly Express has been canclled on October 11, 25 and November 1.