Mumbai, Aug. 28 -- South Western Railway (SWR) has defended the decision to transfer the Mangaluru railway area from the Palakkad Division of Southern Railway (SR) to the Mysuru Division of SWR, saying the reorganisation aims to improve operational efficiency and will not affect revenue allocation or investment priorities. The railway described the move as an administrative and operational rationalisation to place the entire Mangaluru area under a single zone. The response followed opposition from Kerala to the Centre's order.
At present, operations in the Mangaluru region are shared by Southern Railway, SWR and the Konkan Railway Corporation (KRCL), producing multiple operational jurisdictions within a compact but traffic intensive network. The Padil interchange brings together the jurisdictions of the three administrations, so trains approaching Mangaluru from the Goa or Hassan directions cross several boundaries before reaching the station. The railway said this has caused avoidable delays, congestion and coordination challenges.
The railway administration noted that Mangaluru is located more than 350 km from the headquarters of the Palakkad Division, while major onward connectivity through the Mangaluru-Hassan-Mysuru-Bengaluru corridor already falls within SWR. Bringing the whole area under SWR would allow unified planning, train control and timetabling and reduce operational bottlenecks, leading to smoother passenger and freight services. Officials said suburban services around Mangaluru are already largely under SWR, which would facilitate comprehensive regional planning.
SWR highlighted the strategic importance of New Mangalore Port, which handles cargo for power and steel plants in Karnataka and is served by SWR and KRCL, saying integration with a single zone would improve coordination and facilitate seamless movement of loaded and empty freight rakes. The railway clarified that the realignment is confined to Karnataka and does not involve transfer of any station in Kerala, with the Palakkad Division retaining stations in Kasaragod, Kannur, Kozhikode, Malappuram, Palakkad and Thrissur districts. It emphasised that infrastructure investment is guided by network requirements rather than revenue and urged people to view the change as a technical measure to ensure seamless operations while reiterating that Kerala's railway development will continue to receive priority.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Construction World.