Kozhikode railway station (station code: CLT) is an NSG–2 category Indian railway station in Palakkad railway division of Southern Railway zone. It is one of the largest and major railway stations in the state of Kerala. At ₹200 crore in financial year 2018–19, it is the largest in terms of passenger revenue in the division. The station has four platforms, two terminals and a total number of six tracks. The first platform has a capacity to accommodate trains with 24 coaches and second & third platform has the capacity to accommodate 20 coaches; and the fourth one has the capacity to accommodate 24 coaches. It has a daily turnout exceeding 25,000 passengers. It is one of the major railway stations in Kerala with trains connecting the city to other major cities in India. The other railway stations in the city include Ferok, Kallayi Kozhikode South, Vellayil and West Hill.

Southern Railway (SR) is one of the eighteen zones of Indian Railways. It is headquartered at Chennai and operates across the states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and the union territory of Puducherry. The origin of the Southern Railway can be traced back to the Madras Railway formed in 1845. Southern Railway was created on 14 April 1951 by merging three state railways, namely, the Madras and Southern Mahratta Railway, the South Indian Railway Company, and the Mysore State Railway. Southern Railway maintains about 5,081 km (3,157 mi) of railway lines and operates 727 railway stations.