The Palakkad Railway Division is set to face a significant financial blow with an expected annual loss of ₹650 crore in freight revenue. This loss accounts for 90.2% of the division’s total freight earnings and arises from the transfer of operational control over the Mangaluru region to the Mysuru Division, effective October 1.
The division presently records a freight turnover of ₹722.2 crore per year, and about 22 to 25 goods trains run daily from Mangaluru to Kerala.
In December 2023 alone, the Palakkad Division earned ₹50 crore from Mangaluru Port, moving 204 loaded rakes, 10,670 wagons and 0.697 million tonnes of cargo, chiefly coal, petcoke, fertilisers, petroleum products and edible oil.
Following the shift, South Western Railway will fully manage freight trains from Panambur Port to Kerala, leaving Palakkad without any port linkage, its main loading point and pit line facilities for goods‑train maintenance, and the services of 50‑60 specialised staff in Mangaluru.
Mangaluru’s three pit lines can simultaneously service nine trains. A suggested remedy is to create a dedicated Kerala railway zone by merging the Palakkad and Thiruvananthapuram divisions, with a potential zonal office on about five acres of unused railway land near the High Court in Ernakulam, close to Cochin Port and the Vallarpadam Container Terminal.