Mangaluru:  Mangaluru will get a dedicated overnight express train to Bengaluru, to start with three days in a week, from February 21.

Dakshina Kannada MP Nalin Kumar Kateel would flag off the inaugural special, Mangaluru Central-Yeshwantpur tri-weekly express at 11 a.m., on that day at Mangaluru Central Railway Station.

From February 22, regular services of the train would start, Mr. Kateel told The Hindu, after getting the date confirmed with the Railway Ministry, on Wednesday.

He also said the proposed departure timing at Yeswantpur, 4.30 p.m., would be re-scheduled at around 8 p.m. as it was too early and inconvenient for passengers. Mr. Kateel further said that the Ministry would issue the final notification in a day or two.

His Shivamogga counterpart B.R. Raghavendra has already got a four-days a week Jan Shatabdi Express running between Shivamogga and Yeshwantpur. Proposals for both the trains were sent to the Railway Ministry simultaneously. The Ministry wants to commence the services before the Lok Sabha poll schedules are announced and the code of conduct comes into force.

According to sources, the Ministry was not in a position to make a new rake available to introduce the Yeshwantpur-Mangaluru service and the South Western Railway would have to arrange one for the time being. Sources also said that the days of service from Yeshwantpur would be Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday and from Mangaluru Central Monday, Wednesday and Friday. The earlier proposal was to have services from Yeshwantpur on Sunday, Tuesday and Friday and from Mangaluru on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.

Mr. Kateel said that he had been urging the Ministry to introduce another overnight express between the capital city and Mangaluru as the accommodation on the existing Bengaluru-Karwar/Kannur overnight express was highly insufficient.

Concurring with him, West Coast Rail Yatri Abhivriddhi Samithi adviser Anil Hegde said that berths available from Mangaluru to Bengaluru on the Karwar/Kannur-Bengaluru Express were less than 50. The new service thus should be able to cater to the demand from people of Mangaluru, Puttur and Kukke Subrahmanya, he told The Hindu.