The growth of passenger volume in the Mysore Railway Division continues unabated underlying a shift from road to rail as the preferred mode of travelling.Divisional Commercial Manager Anup Dayanand Sadhu told The Hindu that the increase in the number of passengers handled by the division also underlines the increase in the expansion of the railway services. “Introduction of more number of trains, including long-distance services, helped augment passenger earnings. The fact that the passenger fare has not been hiked for many years has also led to increase in the passenger volume,” said Mr. Sadhu.
Record numbers
The Mysore Railway Division has carried a record 3.73 crore passengers till the end of the last quarter during the current financial year (2011-12). This is 16.24 per cent higher than the figures for the corresponding period during the last financial year (2010-11) when the division carried 3.2 crore passengers, according to Mr. Sadhu.Consequently, the division's passenger earnings (revenue accrued through sale of tickets) has also increased. The cumulative earnings till the quarter ending December 31, 2011, is Rs. 116 crore, which is 11.11 per cent higher than Rs. 105 crore earned during the corresponding period in 2010-11.
Popular routes
The popular routes which are turning out to be money-spinners for the Railways is the Mysore-Bangalore section and Mysore-Dharwad section.On the long-distance trains, it is the Mysore-Chennai (via Bangalore) trains that have registered the highest growth. The Mysore-Chennai Shatabdi Express has 40 per cent increase in passenger occupancy. The service is turning out to be popular as the fare to Bangalore is Rs. 275 for a two hour journey. In contrast, the Volvo service of KSRTC also charges about Rs. 250 but the journey takes over three hours.The fare for express trains is Rs. 57 while the ordinary KSRTC service charges around Rs. 100. The fare to Bangalore in passenger trains is Rs. 21. As a result, there are 22 trains of which 14 are daily trains operating on the Mysore -Bangalore section.The number of people travelling on the Mysore-Dharwad section too has increased and though there is only one service daily (Mysore-Dharwad Express), there is potential for a Jan Sahtabdi service during the day as the waiting period for confirmed bookings is more than a week. Industrialists from Mysore region recently pleaded for more connectivity from the city to major commercial centres like Hassan-Arsikere, Birur, Kadur, Chikjajur, Davangere, Harihar, Ranebennur, Haveri and Hubli.Though not exactly a money-spinner, the Mysore-Chamarajanagar section has a high passenger volume in view of the very low rates and ease of travel for daily commuters.
