Thiruvananthapuram: The delinking of Mangaluru from Palakkad Division may eventually lead to more investment in railway infrastructure in northern Kerala, said Railways. “Kerala did not lose any stations and that Mangaluru was moved out because it was an intersection of three zones where coordination for operations of passenger trains and goods trains were becoming a problem,” said an official.Sources say that Railways may focus on investing in facilities that are needed to operate and maintain trains smoothly through Palakkad division. Similar, exercise happened when Salem division was formed after hiving off territory from Palakkad division.The delinking of Mangaluru will also help in better railway infrastructure development in Kerala, which continues to receive sustained priority, said a note.Over the past 12 years, railway investment has led work on the ground, including completion of six doubling/gauge-conversion projects, 131 flyovers and underpasses, 100% electrification of the network, and the redevelopment of 16 stations under the Amrit Bharat Station Scheme. Six Vande Bharat and six Amrit Bharat train services have also been introduced.Railways is also working to expand north-south capacity through the state and survey work is under way for detailed project reports covering more than 800 km of third and fourth line augmentation across six sections – Shoranur-Coimbatore 3rd & 4th Line ( 99 km), Mangaluru-Shoranur 3rd & 4th Line ( 307 km), Shoranur-Ernakulam 3rd Line ( 106 km), Ernakulam-Kayankulam 3rd Line (115 km), Kayankulam-Thiruvananthapuram 3rd Line ( 105 km), Thiruvananthapuram-Nagercoil 3rd Line (71 km).Now, South Western Railway gets single operational control when Mangaluru is included in Mysuru division of the zone.The note said that “Padil, near Mangaluru, was a common interchange point for three separate operational boundaries of Southern Railway and South Western Railway together with the Konkan Railway Corporation (KRCL). A train arriving at Mangaluru from either the Goa side or the Hassan side had to cross three operational jurisdictions and interchange points before reaching the station, causing avoidable delays and difficulty in managing congestion in train operations.”“Mangaluru’s railway network connects the Hassan–Mysuru line with Bengaluru. Bringing Mangaluru under the South Western Railway zone will enable unified planning, better coordination of train operations, an improved passenger experience, more efficient train scheduling and smoother freight movement,” an official said.Mangaluru Port also caters to the traffic requirements of power and steel plants located in SWR and KRCL.The Railway Board is expected to reallocate trains, maintenance facilities and other operational responsibilities in the coming weeks, as many trains to central and southern Kerala are maintained and operated from Mangaluru, which is a terminal. Staff members have been given the option of choosing the zone they would prefer to work in.
