PM Modi to virtually lay foundation stone for Mangaluru Junction Railway Station improvement on August 6

PM Modi and Railway Minister Vaishnaw to lay foundation stone for world-class Mangaluru Junction Railway Station on Aug 6. Costing ₹19.32 crore, the upgradation work includes a better elevation, vehicle circulating area, passenger concourse, and other facilities. Letter of Acceptance issued on June 14 and initial works have commenced. Station handles 82 trains, including two Rajdhani, two Garib Rath, and 36 mail/express.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw will lay the foundation stone for the improvement of Mangaluru Junction Railway Station to world-class status on Sunday, August 6, through videoconferencing.

A statement from the office of Nalin Kumar Kateel, MP, here said the upgradation work was being undertaken at an estimated cost of ₹19.32 crore under the Amrit Bharat Station Scheme (ABSS). The Railway Ministry has already released ₹10.5 crore for this purpose and initial works have commenced.

Mr. Kateel noted that the Union Budget 2023-24 had announced improvement of Mangaluru Central, Bantwal, and Subrahmanya Road stations. A complete overhaul would be done to the existing Mangaluru Junction station building with additional facilities, the MP said and thanked Mr. Modi and Mr. Vaishnaw for their gesture.

The artistic images of the proposed development shared by the MP show that the station building would get a better elevation representing the Karnataka coastal architecture. The front area would have a well-designed vehicle circulating area with adequate provisions for vehicle parking and other facilities. The passenger concourse too would get a makeover with well-designed interiors.

Mangaluru Junction was one of the 90 stations under Southern Railway and 15 under Palakkad Division identified for improvement under the ABSS. The SR zone was sanctioned ₹934 crore by the Railway Ministry under the scheme, in which Palakkad Division got ₹195.54 crore. As many as 26 works would be executed in 15 identified stations of the Palakkad Division.

Letter of Acceptance for the lowest bidder for Mangaluru Junction improvement work was issued on June 14 while the contractor commenced the parking area improvement work. It involves expanding the parking area in front of the station, providing parking infrastructure, and other related works. The remaining works would be undertaken in a phased manner.

Mangaluru Junction is one of the prominent stations along the west coast, from Thiruvananthapuram to Ahmedabad. Almost all passing trains from south to north and north to south halt here for watering purpose. The station handles 82 trains, including two Rajdhani, two Garib Rath, 36 mail/express, two AC superfast, 2 MEMU, two Sampark Kranthi, four Duronto, 28 superfast, two Humsafar, and one Antyodaya trains.