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The Railway Board has decided to merge the Mangaluru railway region with the South Western Railway’s Mysuru division with effect from October 1. The move is expected to significantly undermine the operational and financial importance of the Palakkad division.
The Railway Board’s decision has sparked opposition in Kerala, with many political leaders, including Chief Minister VD Satheesan, openly criticising the move. The move would cause revenue and operational losses to the Palakkad division, they said.
Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Karnataka is celebrating the Railway Board decision.
The Palakkad railway division is headquartered in Olavakkode, Palakkad, and forms one of the six administrative divisions under the Southern Railway zone. Established in 1956, it is one of India's oldest railway divisions, managing transit networks across Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka.
Formed as the Olavakkode division by dissolving the Podanur division in 1979, it spanned nearly 1,248 route km. In November 2007, the creation of the new Salem division further trimmed Palakkad's operational map, first losing around 550 route km. Now following the latest Railway Board order, it faces another route loss.
Chief Minister Satheesan said the Railway Board's unilateral decision is unacceptable. "It heavily impacts revenue and development of Southern Railway and Keralam. We will take this up urgently with the Prime Minister and the Railway Minister," he said.
Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] Rajya Sabha MP John Brittas urged the Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw to completely withdraw the planned transfer.
John Brittas sent a letter to the Railway Minister saying, “Keralam was sought to be assuaged with the Kanjikode Coach Factory. That project has now been officially dropped by the Centre, without any concrete alternative commitment. Keralam has waited for decades for the railway commitments made to it to translate into durable institutions, manufacturing capacity, infrastructure, and a separate railway zone for the state. It would be deeply unfortunate if yet another restructuring were to leave the state with a smaller railway footprint, even as its long-standing demand for a separate railway zone remains unaddressed and the assurances made in the aftermath of the earlier restructuring remain unfulfilled.”
Former Karnataka minister and BJP leader Pramod Madhwaraj urged the Karnataka government and MPs to stand by the decision cutting across the political party. “We have suffered enough and justice has been done after decades of struggle. Let the government of India and the government of Karnataka not succumb to the pressures from the Keralam government,” he said.
