A rail project Kerala waited nearly two decades for has quietly come to an end. The Kanjikode coach factory in Palakkad will not go ahead.

The Union government has confirmed the long-promised facility is off the table, closing the door on what was once seen as the state’s biggest railway manufacturing venture.

The confirmation came from Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha on July 31, in response to a question from CPI(M) MP John Brittas.

Vaishnaw did not use the word “cancelled.” He said instead that the Railways’ existing production units, along with those already in the pipeline, are sufficient to meet near-term rolling stock demand, which is why a new facility at Kanjikode isn’t being pursued.

About 228 acres were acquired for the project, at a cost of roughly Rs 39.80 crore. That land will now go toward “future development and operational needs” of Indian Railways, per the minister’s reply, though nothing specific has been laid out for it yet.

The project goes back to the 2008-09 Railway Budget, when it was first floated. It got formal approval in the 2012-13 budget under a joint venture and public-private partnership structure. After that, it stalled, and never moved past paperwork even with the land already acquired.

Brittas also asked whether a broader change in how the Railways plans coach manufacturing capacity, including its lean toward the PPP model, had anything to do with the delay. Vaishnaw’s answer pointed to projected demand as the deciding factor, not any obligation to spread factories across regions.

For Palakkad, which had hoped to become a rail manufacturing hub, this is about as close to a final answer as it’s likely to get. The land stays with the Railways. What happens to it next is still an open question.

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