Karnataka’s Dakshina Kannada passengers seek a full-fledged railway station at Kaniyooru

Puttur-Subrahmanya Railway Users’ Association has lent its support to passengers requesting Indian Railways to develop a full-fledged railway station in Kaniyooru town, in Kadaba taluk of Dakshina Kannada district of Karnataka, by relocating the existing halt station about 1 km to the east at Yeladka.

Kaniyooru on the Manjeshwar-Puttur-Subrahmanya State Highway is the pivot for about 25 villages in Sullia, Kadaba and Puttur taluks, including Belandooru, Savanooru, Bellare, Kalmadka, Balila, Ninthikallu and Charvaka. Developing a full-fledged station abutting the State Highway would serve a large populace, according to the association.

Meter gauge period

Association member Shankar Kalmadka said, “Kaniyooru had commercial halts for all passenger trains between Bengaluru and Mangaluru during the meter gauge-era. Upon conversion to broad gauge, it became a halt station where only the Mangaluru Central-Subrahmanya Road Passenger halts. The train makes three round trips a day.”

Mr. Kalmadka said the existing station infrastructure is grossly inadequate for passengers while the ticket issuing agent uses an umbrella during rain to carry out the task. The station can accommodate trains with only nine coaches. “It cannot be developed as a full-fledged station because of space constraints, as the station is located in between Kaniyooru river and a Railway Over Bridge,” he said.

Puttur-Subrahmanya Railway Users’ Association has proposed relocating the existing halt station at Kaniyooru to Yeladka, about 1 km to the east of the present halt station, in Kadaba taluk of Dakshina Kannada district in Karnataka.
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Special Arrangement

Proposal at Yeladka

Responding to public demand, Sullia MLA Bhagirathi Murulya wrote to Dakshina Kannada MP Captain Brijesh Chowta and the South Western Railway demanding relocation of the station to Yeladka.

“It was also the suggested location for a junction on the new Kaniyooru-Kanhangad line,” said B. Shreekara, another member of the Association.

When Capt. Chowta wrote to the Railway Ministry, the SWR responded that the proposed location, between Km 117/564 and 118/450, had a gradient of 1 in 150, and is not suitable for a station.

However, Mr. Kalmadka and Mr. Shreekara pointed out that the location proposed by the Association is at Km 118/700, and the SWR might have erred while conducting the survey.

They said railway engineers had identified Yeladka, abutting the SH, as an ideal site for establishing a major junction in the future. The location is comparatively flatter, and provides ample space for infrastructure and robust passenger amenities.

A senior SWR official said the zone will seek a fresh opinion on the station’s location from Mysuru division.