A new 142 km railway line between Bagalkot & Kudachi was sanctioned in 2010-11. On 15th June 2018, the first stretch of 30 km upto Khajjidoni is commissioned and train services have been introduced upto Khajjidoni. Regular RailBus services started from 18.06.2018, which departs from Bagalkot at 07.45 am and reaches Khajjidoni at 09.30 am. The return journey starts at 10.00 am and arrives back to Bagalkot at 11.45 am. The WRB - 30006 RailBus was built by BEML in the year 2018.
Historically, Badami which is part of Bagalkot was the capital of the Chalukya empire. Remnants of Chalukyan art and architecture are important tourist attractions in Bagalkot District. The new railway line connects following places of tourist importance of North Karnataka, viz. Badami (Famous cave temple), Pattadakallu(UNESCO World Heritage Site), Aihole(the erstwhile capital of Chalukya Kingdom with as many as 125 temples dating back to 5thcentury AD), KoodalaSangama(Samadhi of 12th-century social reformist Basavanna known for his crusade against caste exploitation), Gokak Falls and Kittur(Palace of Rani Chennamma).
Photographed by Sid on 18th October 2018.