The Netravathi Bridge, popularly known as Ullal Bridge, a prominent landmark of the Mangaluru railway region, will come under South Western Railway from October 1.
| Photo Credit: Anil Kumar Sastry
United Democratic Front (UDF) MPs from Keralam are targeting the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the Railway Board’s decision to detach the Mangaluru region from the Palakkad division of the Southern Railway and merge it with the Mysuru division of the South Western Railway. The merger is expected to come into effect from October 1.Addressing the media at Kozhikode on Sunday morning (August 23, 2026), M.K. Raghavan, Congress’ MP from Kozhikode, and E.T. Mohammed Basheer, Indian Union Muslim League MP from Malappuram, sought to know the political stand of the BJP leaders from the State on the issue. “The BJP leaders, especially Union Minister of State Suresh Gopi, who is also an elected MP from Keralam, need to clarify if they are with the people or not,” Mr. Raghavan said.Both Mr. Raghavan and Mr. Basheer alleged that the BJP’s “regional interests” in Karnataka could have a played a major role in the Railway Board decision. “Union Minister of State for Railways V. Somanna has political interests in this issue. Unfortunately, provincial arguments are being raised from some quarters. We need to recall that some people in Mangaluru had opposed the attempts to extend the KSR Bengaluru-Kannur Express via Mangaluru to Kozhikode earlier,” Mr. Raghavan said.They said that the UDF MPs from the State would stage a fast outside the office of the Divisional Railway Manager, Southern Railway, at Palakkad on August 26 on Thiruvonam Day in protest against the Railway Board’s move. This was decided at an online meeting of the MPs held on Saturday night (August 22, 2026).Mr. Raghavan claimed that senior Railway officials in the Palakkad division, MPs from the State, and the State government were kept in the dark about such a move. “According to some officials, the Palakkad division will incur a loss of revenue of up to ₹1,100 crore due to this because the Mangaluru port, a major financial source of its operations, will no longer be part of it. Passengers in northern Keralam districts, who are dependent on Mangaluru Central and Mangaluru Junction stations on a regular basis, will be affected too as coordination of train services and development projects could face a crisis. The division will lose the only terminal station with a stabling line and a pit line as well,” he said.Mr. Raghavan also said that the Palakkad division would lose around 16 train services originating from Mangaluru, including Chennai Mail and Mangaluru Vande Bharat Express. The availability of reservation facilities and emergency quota tickets would drastically drop.Mr. Basheer pointed out that the Palakkad division was earlier bifurcated in 2007 to carve out the Salem division. “The latest decision would cripple the division again as the funds allotment and announcement of new projects could get hit. It could also become economically unfeasible,” Mr. Basheer claimed.Meanwhile, the UDF MPs are also reportedly planning to seek a White Paper in Parliament on the impact of the decision on the revenue, staff, and services in the Palakkad division. They pointed out that 90% of the railway staff in Mangaluru are from Keralam and that their concerns should be addressed.A meeting of the railway staff, trade unions, trade bodies, and passenger associations is likely to be held in coming days. Published - August 23, 2026 01:43 pm IST
