Mangaluru, July 23, 2023: BJP Karnataka State President and Dakshina Kannada MP Nalin Kumar Kateel has urged the Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw to name the popular trains of the city after eminent personalities and places of coastal Karnataka.
In a letter to the minister, he proposed new names for the trains that run through the region. The MP made a proposal to name the Bengaluru-Mangaluru-Kannur Express as Rani Abbakka Express.
He said in the letter that passengers easily identify trains by their regional names, citing the existing names of the Thiruvananthapuram-Mumbai LTT Express as Nethravati Express and Ernakulam-Hazrat Nizamuddin train as Mangala Lakshadweep Express, both of which initially originated in Mangaluru.
Noting that people are facing difficulty in identifying many trains originating from Mangaluru or passing through the city which are yet to have a name, he said naming them after personalities, places and rivers of the region would boost the confidence of the people in the coastal district.
The other train names proposed in his letter are the Bengaluru-Mysuru-Mangaluru train Mysuru as Mangaladevi Express, Mangaluru Central-Madgaon train (Sauparnika Express), Mangaluru Central-Coimbatore junction inter-city express (Tulunadu inter-city express) and the MGR Chennai Central-Mangaluru Central train (Tejaswini express).
He also suggested in the letter that the Chennai Egmore-Mangaluru Central Express be named Chandragiri Express, Mangaluru Central-Thiruvananthapuram Central Express as Karavali Express, Mangaluru junction-Vijayapura Express as Hemavati Express and Mangaluru Central-Kacheguda express as Phalguni express.