Palakkad Junction railway station

Palakkad Junction (formerly Olavakkode Junction)(station code: PGT ) is an NSG–3 category Indian railway station in Palakkad railway division of Southern Railway zone. It is one of the largest railway station in Kerala state, India situated in the city of Palakkad and the second largest railway station in the district. Palakkad Junction is the cleanest railway station in the state of Kerala as per the survey conducted by Swachh Bharat Survey. Palakkad Junction serves as the major railway hub for the city of Palakkad in Kerala while the secondary hub, Palakkad Town railway station.

Location
The station is located at 4 km from Palakkad KSRTC bus stand. Olavakkode is a suburb of Palakkad city and is located on NH 966 which connects Palakkad to Kozhikode. The station falls in the Palakkad railway division. It is one of the important railway stations of Southern Railway zone of the Indian Railways.

Lines
Palakkad Junction is located on Jolarpettai–Shoranur line and is the terminating point for the Palakkad–Madurai rail line. The other station serving the city is Palakkad Town railway station.

Infrastructure
The station is served by five platforms. Platforms 1, 2 and 3 are used for trains going towards Palakkad Town, Shoranur, Thrissur and platforms 4 and 5 are mainly used for trains going towards Chennai. The electronic interlocking system, which will replace the prevailing route relay interlocking system, was completed.

MEMU Shed
A Mainline Electric Multiple Unit MEMU shed operates to maintain the suburban trains and is the first MEMU Shed in the state.

Recent Development
Pitline work has been started at Town Railway Station and is expected to start functioning by the end of 2024. This could make it not only a major railway hub in the city but also in the state.