Mangaluru, DHNS: The much-awaited faster train service between Mangaluru and Bengaluru was flagged off by Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu through videoconferencing at Madgaon, Goa, on Sunday.

The Kudla Express (train numbers 16575/16576) will depart from Mangaluru Junction at 11.30 am on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and reach Yeshwantpur at 8.30 pm.

The same train will depart from Yeshwantpur at 7.50 am on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, and reach Mangaluru at 5.30 pm.

The train, which runs on the new railway line between Bengaluru and Hassan, cuts the travel time by two hours. Existing trains, which run via Mysuru, take upwards of 11 hours. The train will have 14 coaches, including seven second class sitting (reserved), five general second lass (unreserved) and two luggage-cum-brake vans.

The Kudla Express will benefit women, children and the elderly as they can travel during the day. It will also boost tourism in coastal Karnataka. Speaking at a formal programme at the Mangaluru Junction?railway station, Union Minister of Statistics and Programme Implementation D V Sadananda Gowda took satisfaction in the fact that 24 of the 26 new trains announced during his tenure as railway minister had been introduced.

He said the Mangaluru Central railway station would be elevated to grade ‘A’ in the first phase of a project to modernise railway stations across the country in public-private partnership.

Dakshina Kannada MP, Nalin Kumar Kateel, hoped the Kudla Express would be extended to Mangaluru Central railway station. Dakshina Kannada district in-charge minister, B Ramanath Rai, called for further reducing the duration of the new train.

Government Chief Whip in the Legislative Council, Ivan?D’Souza, demanded that Kannadigas be appointed at Mangaluru Central and Mangaluru Junction railway stations.