(a) whether the Railways have received any proposal from the State Government of Karnataka seeking separate railway divisions for the State;
(b) if so, the details thereof;
(c) the steps taken by the Railways in this regard;
(d) whether the Railways have received any proposal from the State Government of Kerala regarding the setting up of Peninsular Railway zone in the State; and
(e) if so, the details thereof and the steps taken by the Railways in this regard?
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS (SHRI MANOJ SINHA)
(a) to (e): Requests have been received recently from the Government of Karnataka and Government of Kerala for creation of a new railway division with head-quarters at Mangalore and for setting up a separate Railway Zone in Kerala, respectively.
New Zones and Divisions on Indian Railway are set up keeping in view factors like size, workload, accessibility, traffic pattern and other administrative/operational requirements, consistent with the needs of economy and efficiency, without any regional considerations. The proposals for creation of a new division with head-quarters at Mangalore and a new railway Zone in Kerala, when examined from these aspects, have not been found feasible.