Passengers Concerned as Hubballi-Gadag Bypass Causes Special Trains to Skip City | Hubballi News

HUBBALLI: The newly constructed bypass at Hubballi and Gadag junctions is turning out to be a bane for passengers, as certain special trains are now skipping both cities.When the South Western Railway (SWR) planned to build a bypass at these junctions, train travellers had expressed concerns about trains avoiding both Hubballi and Gadag. Now, those fears have materialised.After initially running a few special trains that skipped Gadag junction, officials have now scheduled a pair of special trains—numbers 06589 and 06590 (Bengaluru–Vijayapura–Bengaluru)—to run while bypassing Hubballi Junction and Gadag Junction on August 15 and 17.These trains are scheduled to have a technical stoppage of 10 minutes at Hubballi South, which is three kilometres away from SSS Hubballi Junction. As a result, passengers in the city will not have access to these trains. Concerns are also being raised as Hubballi Junction serves as the only watering station between Vijayapura and Arsikere, and trains may run dry for 552 km if water is not filled at the source or gets emptied en route.Mahendra Singhi, Member of the Zonal Railway Users’ Consultative Committee (ZRUCC), Hubballi, stated, “It is unacceptable for Hubballi people since the city is the zonal headquarters of SWR. If all trains enter the city, it will benefit both Hubballi passengers as well as long-route passengers, who will get refreshment and all facilities. We will write a letter to the railway ministry to avoid such a skip of Hubballi station.”Kutubuddin Kazi, State President of the Karnataka Railway Development Agitation Committee, Bagalkot, said, “Hubballi Junction is the only watering station between Vijayapura and Arsikere stations, and hence all special and regular trains should enter Hubballi Junction.“If it is bypassed, it violates the Railway Board’s direction to provide water intervals for all long-route trains at an average distance of 250 km. Once the water facility is resumed in Bagalkot and Gadag, then they can skip Hubballi Junction to save time for passengers of Bagalkot and Vijayapura districts,” he added.Manjunath Kanamadi, Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO) of SWR, Hubballi, clarified that these are not regular services. “These are not regular trains but trains on demand (TOD) being run for clearing a specific festive rush for one trip only.“The usage of water will be minimal as the trains run at night. If required for the Bengaluru originating train, water can be filled at Harihar and Bagalkot, where watering is available. For the Vijayapura originating train, it will be fully watered so that the train can run without any complaint,” he said.