Title - | Railway in Malabar: A story of neglect and decay

Kozhikode: Carving out a new division out of Palakkad Division  was a big loss to Kerala. With the formation of Salem Division on November 1, 2007, Palakkad division lost Ootty and Erode lines forever.

Now it is Karnataka's turn to clamour for a Mangalore division by joining Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Kodagu and Kasaragod district in Kerala. If the Railways goes ahead to form a new Mangalore division under the South-western zone, it will be a fatal blow  for the Palakkad Railway Division, one of the oldest railway divisions in Southern Railway. “Kerala would lose the entire Palakkad division on account of this,” warns P K Raghunath, President, Koyilandy Railway Passengers’ Association.

Kozhikode railway station was long back selected to be upgraded to international standards, but nothing has come yet. Southern Railway has not even appointed adequate clerical staff at the Kozhikode railway station, which is the only station of access to people from distant places of Wayanad district.

The limited number of RPF personnel, deployed for women passengers' safety after the brutal rape and murder of Soumya, was withdrawn gradually. “Chennai, the head quarters of Southern Railway, shows total neglect of Kerala when it comes to development,” adds Raghunath. Shoranur-Karakkad railway line is still a single line. Not a single post has come on the Shoranur-Mangalore railway line, which was promised for electrification two years ago in budget.

Staff at the Kozhikode construction office were moved  to Chennai, citing that there was no double line in the region. This has resulted in the total disruption of ongoing works and works already approved in previous budgets. Over bridge repair works on Moorad and Valapattanam, located at Kozhikode and Kannur districts respectively, are not yet completed. Siding, which is a low-speed track section distinct from a running line, has not been provided in Azheekkal harbour and Ezhimala Naval Academy. Work on Chorode and Pazhayangadi railway over bridges has not been begun yet.

Calicut-Kannur pit line which was planned in the railway budget years ago has not been done. For any repair works to be carried out,  the damaged coaches have to be moved to Chennai or Shoranur. In spite of hundreds of vacant positions in the the Malabar region, recruitment of personnel has not been done.

Being a B-class station and generating a revenue of 1.5 lakhs per day, Koyilandi Railway Station has not even got an online reservation system. People of this area have to reach Kozhikode 25km south or reach Vadakara 20km north, for reserving a tatkal ticket. One window of Koyilandi station master's room was converted into a ticket counter and many a times the station master issues the tickets.  The plan for a new ticket counter was drawn six times, but would not go beyond that. There is no fourth platform in Kannur railway station which was also planned years ago.

A huge number of passengers to Gujarat, Bangalore and Chennai have a sad story to narrate as the trains to these places have no stops at Koyilandy station. Lack of general compartments in long distance trains make the life miserable for season ticket holders.

The neglect happens because the lion-share of  allocation to Southern Railway goes for Tamil Nadu. “Kerala is responsible for this state of neglect. We present numerous demands before the Railways and none gets approved. The state should demand one thing, a zone, nothing else. If we have our ZONE, we can get all the other demands later”, he told Manoramaonline.