Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has said that doubling work on the Konkan Railway network will be expedited, while inaugurating a new Akashvani FM transmitter in Udupi on Friday. The announcement is expected to support efforts to improve passenger and freight movement along Karnataka’s coastal belt, although no specific completion timeline or project length was provided.
Vaishnaw, who also holds the Information and Broadcasting and Electronics and Information Technology portfolios, said railway infrastructure in the coastal region would be developed comprehensively. His remarks came at the inauguration of the Akashvani Udupi FM transmitter at Ajjarkadu.
The Konkan Railway route is a critical north-south rail link along India’s western coast. The minister’s statement places the proposed doubling work within a broader infrastructure expansion agenda for the region. According to the report, accelerating the works would improve connectivity and facilitate the movement of both passengers and freight along the coastal corridor.
The announcement did not specify which sections would be taken up first, the funding arrangement, tender schedule or target date for completion. It also did not indicate whether fresh approvals or land-related processes would be required for the works. These details will determine how quickly the stated acceleration translates into construction activity on the ground.
The Udupi event also marked the launch of a new FM service on 101.9 MHz. The transmitter is intended to strengthen Akashvani’s terrestrial broadcasting presence in Udupi and neighbouring areas, expanding access to public broadcasting in coastal Karnataka.
Akashvani Mangaluru, established in 1976 as Karnataka’s sixth broadcasting station, currently operates a 10 kW FM transmitter in Mangaluru and a 20 kW medium-wave transmitter at Brahmavar. Its service area includes Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts, Kasaragod district in Kerala, and parts of Shivamogga, Chikkamagaluru and Kodagu districts.
The station broadcasts programmes in Kannada, English, Hindi, Tulu, Konkani and Sanskrit. Its programming covers health, education, agriculture, government initiatives, legal awareness, entertainment, literature and culture. The station is also digitising archival recordings and distributing programmes through the NewsOnAir and Waves OTT applications and other digital platforms.
The next milestones for the railway announcement will be the identification of the sections to be expedited, details of the implementation schedule and any formal project updates from the railway authorities. For the broadcasting expansion, the new Udupi transmitter will begin extending Akashvani’s FM reach across the coastal region.
