The South Western Railway (SWR) has nearly completed Railway Electrification on the 55 km Sakleshpur-Subrahmanya Road Ghat section on the Hassan – Mangaluru line.
| Photo Credit: The Hindu
Very soon, trains, both passenger and freight, on the Bengaluru-Mangaluru / Karwar sector will run on electric traction end-to-end, with the Railway Electrification (RE) on the 55-km Sakleshpur-Subrahmanya Road Ghat section nearing completion.
At present, trains on this sector still run on diesel traction and could be the only sector in the State where trains are operated using diesel locomotives. Rail tracks between Mangaluru and Subrahmanya Road and Sakleshpur-Chikkabanawara/ Arsikere/ Mysuru are already electrified.
Passenger trains that require loco change at Mangaluru Central, namely, KSR Bengaluru-Kannur-KSR Bengaluru Express (16511/12) and SMVT Bengaluru-Murdeshwar-SMVT Bengaluru Express (16585/586) operate on electric traction between Mangaluru Central and Kannur/ Murdeshwar after the loco change at Mangaluru Central.
KSR Bengaluru-Karwar-KSR Bengaluru Panchaganga Express (16595/596) that bypasses both Mangaluru Central and Junction runs completely on diesel traction though Konkan Railway Corporation Ltd., network is completely electrified. This is because absence of loco changing facilities between Mangaluru and Udupi.
Line block removed
The South Western Railway is set to remove the 198-day line block given from May 31 on the Sakleshpur-Subrahmanya Road Ghat section from December 16 enabling resuming the day train services on the Bengaluru-Mangaluru/Karwar sector.
Electrification is almost completed and some ancillary works are required before trains run on electric traction, SWR’s Mysuru Divisional Railway Manager Mudit Mittal told The Hindu. Rail India Technical and Economic Services (RITES), the organisation that is executing the electrification n the Ghat section, has sought a few more days’ time to complete the work; yet it does not need line blocks.
After completion of the electrification, the line has to be charged and tested. This will be followed by the statutory inspection by the Commissioner of Railway Safety and the subsequent authorisation to the Railways to operate trains on electric traction, Mr. Mittal said. The entire process hopefully could get completed by January after which trains would run on electric traction, the DRM added.
Fit for Vande Bharat
Meanwhile, the Railway Ministry has asked SWR to make the track between Chikkabanawara and Mangaluru fit for operation of Vande Bharat Express trains, Mr. Mittal said. The zone is working on this and upgrading the track and systems to handle the semi-high speed train, the DRM added.
Published – December 14, 2025 06:14 pm IST
