Indian Railway Users Propose Expansion of Kumbla and Manjeshwar Stations

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On August 23, railway users and related railway stakeholders in the Kasaragod district of Kerala, India, proposed upgrading the Kumbla and Manjeshwar stations, adding facilities for train stabling, maintenance, and terminal origination and termination. The suggestions were made following the adjustment of the railway jurisdiction in the Mangaluru region by the Indian Railway Board, and the publicly available Railway Board documents have not yet listed the expansion of the two stations as an approved construction project.

On August 21, the Railway Board issued a jurisdiction adjustment notice, shifting the boundary between the Palakkad Division of Southern Railway and the Mysuru Division of South Western Railway to the 872.900 km mark on the Shoranur Junction—Mangaluru Central line. The adjustment takes effect from October 1, and the interchange point between the two railway divisions will be relocated from Padil to Ullal, while Thokur will change from the former Konkan Railway—Southern Railway interchange point to a Konkan Railway—South Western Railway interchange point.

Kumbla has been proposed for development as a satellite station for Kasaragod. Local railway users stated that the station has over 30 acres of available land; in March this year, Rajmohan Unnithan, the Member of Parliament for the Kasaragod constituency, also raised in the Indian Parliament the use of approximately 30 acres of railway land to upgrade Kumbla into a terminal station and improve passenger facilities at the station.

Regarding Manjeshwar, locals have proposed building small terminal facilities using the station's existing tracks and land. The station's additional lines have previously been used for stabling train rakes during congestion at Mangaluru Central; the proposal also includes converting idle buildings into temporary railway staff accommodation. Railway users have simultaneously proposed configuring stabling lines and inspection pits at either Manjeshwar or Kumbla.

The Palakkad railway division currently has only one inspection pit line at Palakkad Town, and the stabling lines at Shoranur and Kozhikode are nearing full capacity. Following the completion of the jurisdiction adjustment in the Mangaluru region, stations such as Mangaluru Central and Mangaluru Junction will be transferred to the management of the Mysuru division; the formal notice issued by the Railway Board on August 21 only confirms the adjustment of jurisdictional boundaries and interchange points, without disclosing the investment amount, construction scale, or implementation timeline for the terminal expansions at Kumbla and Manjeshwar.