The Kanyakumari District Railway Users’ Association (KKDRUA) has said the South Western Railway and people’s representatives should utilise integration of Mangaluru Railway region with SWR as momentum to aggressively execute further Railway development projects in the region.

Congratulating Dakshina Kannada MP Captain Brijesh Chowta on Railway Board’s August 21 decision to bifurcate Mangaluru from Southern Railway’s Palakkad Division and bring it under SWR’s Mysuru Division, Association Secretary P. Edward Jeni in a letter to the MP said the landmark step fulfils a long-pending demand of the region and significantly boosts connectivity across Karnataka.

The Kanyakumari Association in Tamil Nadu, like passenger associations in coastal Karnataka, has been fighting alleged step-motherly treatment of the region by Southern Railway’s Thiruvananthapuram Division.

The Association said while this jurisdictional shift is a historic victory, it must mark the beginning of active development, not the end of people’s efforts. The railway authorities and people’s representatives should use it as momentum to aggressively execute further railway development projects in the region.

Post-transfer growth

It said the integration should be treated as a springboard for active development with push for new projects, speeding up stalled works and ensuring Mangaluru receives fair share of budgetary allocation from SWR.

A joint task force comprising people’s representatives and senior officials from SWR and Konkan Railway Corporation Ltd., should conduct a comprehensive survey of Mangaluru Central and Junction Stations to assess present bottlenecks, execute essential passenger amenity upgrades and draft a Master Plan to develop Mangaluru as a Mega Terminal.

The task force should also undertake an operational audit of the existing pit lines at Mangaluru and shift primary maintenance of select long-distance trains to destination stations outside Mangaluru to decongest the region. Pit lines capacity should be enhanced to accommodate 24-coach trains to maximise services.

There is a need to undertake station-by-station audit across all railway stations under Mangaluru region to identify missing infrastructure, including full platform sheltering, improved lighting, and modern, clean toilet facilities. Focus should also be given to providing escalators, lifts, and foot overbridges (FOBs) for seamless platform accessibility while platform lengths at suburban stations should be extended to accommodate full-length express trains.

It suggested introduction of new daily express trains connecting Mangaluru to major cities in Karnataka, including Bengaluru, Hubballi, Belagavi, Kalaburagi etc., and extension of long-distance trains terminating at Bengaluru to Mangaluru to improve direct interstate and intrastate connectivity.

Freight handling

The Association suggested to develop dedicated freight handling terminals and improve port connectivity with New Mangalore Port (NMP) to leverage the full economic potential of the SWR network.