Vizhinjam rail link: New land acquisition notification issued

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The land acquisition process for the proposed rail link between Vizhinjam International Seaport and Balaramapuram railway station has moved forward with a fresh notification covering additional land in Pallichal and Balaramapuram villages.

The Revenue Department issued the notification on September 14, bringing approximately 2.3195 hectares of privately owned land, apart from government-owned land, under the acquisition process. The land is located in Pallichal and Balaramapuram villages of Neyyattinkara taluk.

The latest notification includes areas that were not covered by the earlier acquisition notification. It adds 104 land-acquisition sub-divisions to the project, according to the notification details.
The earlier notification, published on August 1, covered 0.8802 hectares. It included 15 land-acquisition sub-divisions in Pallichal village's Block No. 5 under Re-survey Nos. 474, 479, 481 and 482, besides 24 sub-divisions in Balaramapuram village's Block No. 13.

The proposed Vizhinjam-Balaramapuram rail link is 10.7 km long, with most of the alignment running underground. The project has an approved cost of about Rs 1,482.92 crore. The rail link has also been included in the PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan.

The project is intended to provide rail connectivity for moving containers from Vizhinjam port to the wider railway network. The Centre has said the project is being implemented under an agreement between Southern Railway and Vizhinjam International Seaport Ltd (VISL), with train operations to be handled by Indian Railways and construction and maintenance responsibilities assigned to VISL under the agreement.

Land acquisition is also being undertaken for other infrastructure linked to Vizhinjam's development. A dedicated Container Freight Station is being established at the Travancore Spinning Mills compound in Balaramapuram on nearly five acres. The Rs 25-crore project is being implemented by Kerala State Industrial Enterprises Ltd and is scheduled to become fully operational by February 2027.
The State has also initiated steps for land acquisition for the proposed Vizhinjam-Navaikulam Outer Ring Road.

The rail link is being developed as part of efforts to strengthen multimodal connectivity to Vizhinjam International Seaport. The port began commercial operations in December 2024 and started full export-import operations in August 2026. Within 18 months of commencing commercial operations, it had handled two million TEUs and received some of the world's largest container vessels, according to recent reports.