First off, thanks Vasanth for the informative update on the long awaited train. Hopefully they will complete the Bangalore Hassan line soon, the zig zag route via Mysore (go south) and Hassan (come back north) takes a bit too much time (12 hours).
BTW, I read a news-piece on this train in ToI this morning, and something in there just amazed me. The piece talks about Mr Lalu Yadav flagging the Bangalore train off at Mangalore, and how he kept the audience in splits during his speech. Now, for the interesting part:
"When Lalu mentioned that he knew the reasons behind the delay and put the onus on the bus and truck lobby, there was a loud roar of approval"