Mangaluru: Mangaluru city residents, especially the children will soon have one more reason to visit the Kadri park with the reintroduction of the toy train.

A new three coach toy train is all set to chug off in the park by November this year, informed MLA J R Lobo after holding a groundbreaking ceremony for the same at Kadri Park here.

While a toy train had been operational at Kadri park since 1984, few technical issues led it to becoming defunct in April 2013.

Speaking after the groundbreaking ceremony, MLA J R Lobo informed that a proposal for a new toy train was mooted after the mechanical engineers of Southern Railway Authority, Palghat had said that the train was not safe to run owing to technical reasons. While the initial estimated cost of the project was Rs 40 lakh, the same had been increased to approximately Rs 1 crore, which includes the cost of the three boogie train and the necessary infrastructure to run it.

New tracks will be laid for the toy train and apart from this there are plans to redesign the old shed or convert it to a model of a railway station with a covered canopy. The existing railway shed and platform would be removed, he informed.

Corporator Roopa D Bangera, Lance Lat Pinto, TK Sudhir and others were present.