Rameswaram Station’s Wait For Trains To Finally End With New Pamban Bridge
The station, which stopped its functions in December 2022 after the rail connectivity to the island was discontinued from the rest of the country due to the decommissioning of the Old Pamban Bridge, is looking at the return of good old days.
For two years, time at the railway station in Rameshwaram has stood still. No hurried footsteps of passengers, or sounds of excited children, vendors selling their wares, or ears perking up to the announcement of a train’s imminent arrival.
The station, which stopped its functions in December 2022 after the rail connectivity to the island was discontinued from the rest of the country due to the decommissioning of the Old Pamban Bridge, is looking at the return of good ol’ days. Only better.
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With the new Pamban Bridge ready for operations, the temple town of Rameshwaram, that is also the hometown of former President late APJ Abdul Kalam, will see train operations once again.
Millions of tourists visit the Rameshwaram island that has both religious importance and scenic locations including the Rameshwaram beach and Dhanushkodi. The house of Kalam, where he grew up, is also there inspiring the younger generation.
Rameshwaram town is also home to Ramanathaswamy Temple, one of the twelve Jyotirlinga – and one among the four Char Dhams. According to Hindu mythology, it was in Rameshwaram where the “Ram Setu" was built by lord Ram’s army to bring back Sita from Lanka.
News18 visited the station. While the work on the building’s facade is not yet completed, the platforms and the train operations side are ready.
The station
Rameswaram Railway Station, when operational, used to have around 20 trains daily and it was dealing with more than 9,000 passengers everyday on average.
The old Pamban railway bridge was built for this town in 1914 but was suspended in December 2022 as it was declared unsafe due to damages caused by corrosion. Now the new bridge is ready and is expected to see a higher number of trains.
The importance of the sea bridge can be understood with the fact that it was the sole connection between Mandapam and Rameswaram until a parallel road bridge was built in 1988.
Currently, train operations are allowed only up to Mandapam, nearly 20 km from Rameshwaram. Lack of direct trains from major cities was making it difficult for tourists and pilgrims to reach the town. They either had to opt for road commute from Madurai or from Mandapam.
But a direct train will allow a comfortable endpoint journey to everyone who wants to opt for a train journey.
The redevelopment
The Southern Railway had awarded the work of Redevelopment of Rameswaram Railway Station in September 2022 as an EPC contract. The firm was given 18 months to complete the project at a cost of Rs 95 crore.
The station will have two buildings – one each at the Eastern and Northern side. The architecture of the terminals will reflect contemporary adaptation of the traditional temple architecture of the Rameswaram temple.
The Eastern Terminal Building, also the main entry point, is under construction with only pillars installed on the ground floor. It is spread on around 7,160 sq metres and is going to be a two-storey structure initially. It can go up to six floors, if needed in the future.
This building will provide direct access at ground level to Platform 1, 2 and 3 as existing today.
The eastern side terminal building will have a roof plaza linking access to platform 4 and proposed platform 5. The building is designed to provide hassle free movement of passengers as there will be segregation of departure and arrival spaces.
The building will have a booking office, waiting areas for the passengers, toilets, railway office spaces and space for commercial activities.
On the other hand, the northern terminal which is a single-storey structure is ready. However, it is planned exclusively for administration offices and offices for departments concerned with train operations.
As soon as the train operations are allowed on the Bay of Bengal through the new Pamban Bridge, the Rameshwaram town will get re-connected through trains with major cities in India.
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