There seems to be light at the end of the tunnel for the proposal to convert a 110-acre property owned by the Southern Railway in the Kathrikadavu-Ponnurunni area into Kerala’s rail transit hub, since Kerala Rail Development Corporation Limited (KRDCL) has entrusted RITES to study its feasibility.
The KRDCL is a joint venture between the State and the Railways for executing rail projects in Kerala on a cost-sharing basis.
Decongesting stations
K.V. Thomas, MP, is learnt to have met the Chairman of the Railway Board and requested him to take up the project to decongest stations in the city and to speed up train movement in Ernakulam and neighbouring districts.
Earlier this year, Railway officials had submitted a preliminary report to the Thiruvananthapuram Division authorities to convert the under-utilised land located in the heart of Kochi into an integrated coach terminal-cum-railway station with up to 15 tracks. If realised, it would pave the way for a station bigger than Ernakulam Junction, official sources said.
The sprawling area is now underutilised since the Railway coach depot and marshalling yard occupy some space, while the rest of the area is covered with trees and weeds. There were also reports of garbage being dumped on the premises.
Growth of city
Thiruvananthapuram Divisional authorities were hitherto citing paucity of funds as a reason for not pursuing the proposal. This despite the fact that the two main railway stations in the city are located in the western part of Kochi, while the city is fast expanding eastward beyond the NH Bypass. Concentration of buses too has been spreading eastward ever since the Vyttila Mobility Hub was opened about five years ago.
Connectivity to the ICT-cum-railway station will not be a problem since the 110-acre Railway land is located around 200 metres from the M.G. Road-Thammanam-Pullepady-NH Bypass Road which is expected to be widened by the Public Works Department.
The ICT-cum-railway station proposal will become inevitable when track-doubling is over through Kottayam and Alappuzha, following which more trains will operate in the State. For long, trains are being detained for long durations in the suburbs due to shortage of platforms and lines in Ernakulam.
The new project, if realised, would change things for the better, said Railway sources.
