Sustained efforts to bring Mangaluru under SWR bear fruit, says Capt. Chowta

Sustained efforts to bring Mangaluru under SWR bear fruit, notes Capt.

Key points

• Mangaluru Junction Railway Station (in picture), Mangaluru Central, Panambur and Ullal railway stations.
• While Thokur will continue to remain part of Konkan Railway and serve as the interchange point between Konkan Railway Corporation Ltd.
• The MP remarked he has been pursuing the demand consistently since taking office in June 2024.
• The demand continued to be followed up through subsequent parliamentary interventions, representations, and repeated meetings with the Railway Ministry.
• Chowta remarked the decision would assist Mangaluru move forward with greater administrative clarity and a stronger focus on railway development.

Sustained efforts to bring Mangaluru under SWR bear fruit, notes Capt. Chowta The MP notes the decision will assist Mangaluru move forward with greater administrative clarity and a stronger focus on railway development. Published – August 21, 2026 09: 19 pm IST – MANGALURU.

Mangaluru Junction Railway Station (in picture), Mangaluru Central, Panambur and Ullal railway stations. It form the Mangaluru Railway Region, come under South Western Railway's Mysuru Division from October 1. Photo Credit: H.S. MANJUNATH.

Dakshina Kannada Member of Parliament Capt. Brijesh Chowta on Friday remarked his sustained efforts bore fruit with the Railway Ministry approving the long-pending demand to bring the Mangaluru railway region under a single administrative jurisdiction – South Western Railway (SWR).

He remarked in an official note that the Mangaluru area up to Ullal, inclusive, would be transferred from the Palakkad Division of Southern Railway (SR) to the Mysuru Division of SWR from October 1. The development is projected to ease administrative and jurisdictional hurdles faced by Mangaluru, improve coordination, enable faster resolution of passenger and operational worries, and facilitate a more focused push for railway infrastructure and connectivity throughout coastal Karnataka.

For context, the MP remarked he has been pursuing the demand consistently since taking office in June 2024. Within weeks of taking oath, he raised the matter during the first visit of Minister of State for Railways V. Somanna to Mangaluru on July 17, 2024, at a high-level review session on regional railway infrastructure and connectivity.

For context, the matter was followed up at multiple levels. On November 28, 2024, Capt. Chowta submitted representations seeking the reorganisation of the Mangaluru railway administration and its inclusion under the Mysuru Division of SWR to Railway Board Chairman Satish Kumar, Mr Somanna, and Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.

In practice, the matter was additionally repeatedly pursued in Parliament. On December 11, 2024, Capt. Chowta raised the inclusion of Mangaluru Central and Mangaluru Junction under SWR through a supplementary question. During the discussion on the Demands for Grants for Railways in March 2025, he broadened the matter, calling for structural reorganisation of the coastal railway network and specifically seeking the reorganisation of Mangaluru's railway administration from Southern Railway/Palakkad to SWR/Mysuru.

Notably, the demand continued to be followed up through subsequent parliamentary interventions, representations, and repeated meetings with the Railway Ministry.

Meanwhile, the move will bring greater administrative coherence to Mangaluru's railway operations. With the region earlier falling under different railway jurisdictions, addressing a number of infrastructure, operational, and passenger-related worries involved navigating multiple administrative structures.

While Thokur will continue to remain part of Konkan Railway and serve as the interchange point between Konkan Railway Corporation Ltd. And SWR, according to the Railway Board's order, the SWR-SR interchange point would shift from Padil to Ullal.

Capt. Chowta remarked the decision would assist Mangaluru move forward with greater administrative clarity and a stronger focus on railway development.

"With this decision, we will be better placed to address many of our railway-related concerns and ensure that Mangaluru's railways move faster on the tracks of Vikas, " he remarked.

Taken together, the developments around sustained efforts to bring Mangaluru under SWR bear fruit, says Capt. Chowta point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.