R Nagaraj, who had driven the train in 1979, was also part of the historic journey as a senior loco inspector. Ignoring his designation, he decided to drive the train this time too. C Ramaswamy, who was his assistant then, was by his side on Saturday also.
During the 11-year gap they have been doing duty mostly on Mysore-Hubli and Mysore-Shimoga route. They were obviously happy to be driving the train to Bangalore.
Impulsive decision
Several people, who had come to Mangalore to witness the flagging off of the train got into the train.
Prominent among them was I M Jayaram Shetty, former Udupi MP. He felt that if the train service is extended up to Murudeshwar it would help many people.
Ramnik Patel, a Mangalore-based arecanut trader, who had been waiting for the train service to begin, is a happy man now. He did not miss the occasion and travelled with his wife and son. He has already booked his return ticket from Bangalore for Sunday.
Sidique had no plans of going to Bangalore on Saturday. He had come to Mangalore to see the flag off function. He got into the train and later called his home to inform that he is on his way to Bangalore and would be back a day after tomorrow.
Five of the travellers, who got into the train without ticket, had to pay a fine of Rs 494 each.
Hameed, usually a flight traveller, thought of checking the train facility on its maiden journey itself. He too travelled to Bangalore.
Run delayed
Though the train was scheduled to leave Mangalore at 1.25 pm, it left the station only at 3 pm. Thousands of people had gathered in Kabaka-Puttur station to welcome the train. The Puttur unit of Kanara Chamber of Commerce and Industry distributed sweets to the people in celebration of the resumption of the train service.
Hundreds of people had gathered at Subrahmanya, Siribagilu and Sakaleshpur also. The train reached Sakaleshpur at 7.40 pm. Local MLA H M Vishwanath garlanded the driver of the train.
Speaking to Deccan Herald G Madhusudhan, Engineer, Maintenance, SWR said the train is fitted with an Auto Emergency Break (AEB). It automatically stops the train on the ghat section if the loco speed exceeds 30 km.
When the train is on its way to Bangalore, in the ghat section, it will have three engines - two additional engines on the rear. But in the reverse journey, all the three engines will be in front, he added.
