Mangaluru: Lok Sabha Member Nalin Kumar Kateel is hoping for some more announcements benefiting the coastal region by Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu at the end of discussion on Railway Budget during the ongoing Parliament session.

Talking to reporters on the sidelines of an event at Shivarama Karanath Pilikula Nisargadhama here on Sunday, Mr. Kateel said that this was the first time that Dakshina Kannada was getting grants of nearly Rs. 570 crore for different projects.

“It is a different budget where money is being given for completing the ongoing works,” he said.

Apart from sanctioning line doubling between Subrahmanya Road Station and Sakleshpur station at an estimated cost of Rs. 500 crore, the Railway Minister has granted amount for doubling the 1.5-km line between Netravathi Cabin and Mangaluru Central Station. Money has been sanctioned for a road underbridge coming up at Padil, he said.

However, line doubling has been sanctioned with funding from extra budgetary resources, meaning either external funding or on cost-sharing basis with the State government. Till such funds are arranged, the project would remain on paper only.

Mr. Kateel said that with the completion of line doubling between Subrahmanya Road Station and Sakleshpur and commissioning of Bengaluru-Hassan new line, the travelling distance between Bengaluru and Mangaluru would come down further and travelling time too would get reduced.

Mr. Kateel said that there are a couple of demands, including introduction of an additional train between Bengaluru and Mangaluru. There was also a demand for a new train between Mumbai and Mangaluru. He was hopeful of a few more announcements by the Railway Minister at the end of discussion on Railway budget.