Train to Kalaburagi stays on paper

Kalaburagi: A mainline electric multiple unit (MEMU) train that runs between Secunderabad and Chittapur was to run up to Kalaburagi in July 2021, but it is not.
RTI replies have revealed how the South Central Railway (SCR) and the Central Railway (CR) have passed the buck to each other regarding the train.
RTI activist Sunil Kulkarni said: “As Kalaburagi falls under limits of Central Railway, we sought information on why the train is not coming in Kalaburagi, though it was declared in a press release of South Central Railway in July 2021.We got a reply that the MEMU is owned by South Central Railway and hence the matter pertains to them. At the other end, South Central Railway said in an RTI reply that Kalaburagi falls under the jurisdiction of Central Railway and permission from there has not come for running the train up to Kalaburagi. We wonder why both railway zones are reluctant to resolve the issue, which can be resolved over a phone call.”
Shivaji Sutar, the chief public relations officer for Central Railway in Mumbai said the reply has already been given under the RTI Act and added that South Central Railway has to take a call on the matter.
Sources in Central Railway in the Solapur division said on the condition of anonymity that the time slot proposed by South Central Railway was not convenient for Kalaburagi passengers. “As per their schedule, it was supposed to reach Kalaburagi by midnight and was to depart by 3 am from there. Hence, we had told the South Central Railway to revise the time but there was no further communication from there,” the source added.
Rakesh Ch, the chief public relations officer of South Central Railway in Secunderabad, did not reply to the query on the train.
Muttanna Nadageri, a pro-Kannada activist, said: “Kalaburagi is suffering a lot in the absence of a railway divisional status. If the railways combine all lines under a Kalaburagi division under SWR, the problems will be solved forever.”