Hubballi: AC and reserved passengers are bearing the brunt of overcrowding on South Western Railway’s Mangaluru Central -Vijayapura Express (train nos 17377/78), amid a shortage of general coaches, passengers, and officials said. The train, the only link between North Karnataka and Mangaluru, has drawn repeated complaints about overcrowding along its route.SWR officials said the train carries about 100 unreserved passengers between Vijayapura and Arsikere across 21 stations but has limited general coaches, resulting in spillover. Unreserved passengers are increasingly entering reserved and AC coaches through interlinking doors, raising concerns over safety and passenger comfort.Shashirekha Viraktamath, a writer from Vijayapura, said she recently travelled to Kukke Subrahmanya and faced the issue through the night. “We are not against unreserved passengers, including the elderly, women and children with luggage. However, what value does advance booking hold if we still face security concerns, discomfort, and difficulty reaching the toilets?” she asked.Veerabhadra Kammar, an octogenarian from Avarolli village, said he travelled in coach S6 on May 6. “We did not see any TTE till Mangaluru Central. As we complained on the Rail Madad app, some security personnel came to Harihar and just shut the interlinking door. However, they did not dare to vacate unreserved passengers sitting on the floor, blocking our way to the toilets. Irony is that the door was reopened by the time the train reached Sakleshpur,” he said.CPRO Manjunath Kanamadi said the train has 15 coaches, including four unreserved carriages, and that staff redirect unreserved passengers and deploy additional personnel during peak travel.
