Mangaluru-Bengaluru rail route via Hassan likely to begin by month end

Hassan/Mangaluru: If sources are to be believed, the Bengaluru-Mangaluru train service via Kunigal and Hassan is likely to begin by the end of this month or the first week of March.

The Hassan-Bengaluru rail route (166 km) which was sanctioned during the then Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda in 1996-97 is finally turning into reality.

Sources say that the route would be an alternative to the route between Bengaluru and Mangaluru which is longer.

It should be noted that Jain Mutt seer Charukeerthi Bhattaraka Swami had submitted a memorandum to the state and the Centre to go ahead with the rail service so that it would help devotees visiting Shravanabelagola for the Mahamastakabhisheka in 2018.