Kochi’s old railway station to be revived at Rs 100 cr

In Kerala’s Kochi, the old railway station or the Ernakulam Railway Goods Station behind the Kerala High Court is to be revived at Rs 100 crore. The project proposal has been submitted to the Southern Railway. Thiruvananthapuram Divisional Railway Manager Rajesh Agarwal announced this in Kochi on April 8 and said the existing lines and the station building (abandoned a few decades ago) could be renovated using the initial outlay of Rs 100 crore.

Plans were also afoot to operate boats from the vicinity, furthering the cause of inter-modal transport, he said. Once the station was revived, the Ernakulam Junction station would cease to be a terminal station.

The operations would be shifted to the old railway station. The State government must come forward with its action plan for the purpose, Agarwal said. The initial outlay would be used to clear weeds, revive the lines and the station building.

The proposal and the fact that 36 acres of land at the station are lying idle were forwarded to the Southern Railway head office, said Ernakulam Area Manager of Southern Railway PL Asok Kumar. Once the old railway station becomes a terminal station, passenger amenities in place at Ernakulam Junction would be readied.

Once the renovation is over, all trains that terminate at Ernakulam and MEMU trains proceeding to Thrissur and beyond can be redirected in Kochi, Asok Kumar said.