Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday urged Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw to extend the routes of the Vande Bharat Express which currently runs on the Bengaluru-Hubballi-Dharwad route up to Belagavi city, with a view to increase the connectivity options between Karnataka, Goa and Maharashtra. Siddaramaiah wrote a letter to Vaishnaw and said that the second Vande Bharat Express in the state "brought a paradigm shift in the connectivity of the region, between Dharwad, Hubballi, and Davangere with Bengaluru".
He said that Belagavi was a significant vantage point for industrialists, students and tourists..
Siddaramaiah described Belagavi as an 'economically vibrant' district, and said that it houses sugar, aluminium and major industries and also acts as a support base for automobile and aerospace industries apart from several small and medium industries.
He highlighted that Belagavi was a tourist destination with a rich cultural and historical background.
"I request you to extend the Bengaluru to Hubballi-Dharwad Vande Bharat train service upto Belagavi city. This will significantly boost the connectivity between the states of Karnataka, Goa and Maharashtra," he said.
Siddaramaiah mentioned to the railway minister that Karnataka MLC Prakash Hukkeri had also written to him in this regard.
“I would urge you to look into the matter and instruct the officials to do the needful. The spirit of holistic development of the region will be upheld in letter and spirit by this move," the CM said.
(With PTI inputs)
