Demand to redevelop unused Old Railway Station, harbour terminus gains traction

Demand rises to redevelop Old Railway Station and Cochin Harbour Terminus due to platform constraints at Ernakulam stations.

With land acquisition to augment platforms at Ernakulam Junction and Town railway stations next to impossible, demand is rife to redevelop the unused Old Railway Station located behind the Kerala High Court and the underutilised Cochin Harbour Terminus station on Willingdon Island.

Passenger associations, NGOs, and others have been raising the demand for the past two decades. Among others, they have also been citing how only three of the six platforms at Ernakulam Junction can accommodate trains having 24 coaches. Likewise, they have been demanding more roof cover for all platforms at Ernakulam Junction and Town stations.

With Railway officials maintaining that yard and allied amenities ought to be improved Ernakulam Junction to extend the platforms, they say the Railways must work in tandem with the State government to restore train services to the two underutilised stations — one in the heart of the city and the other located around 8 km south of Ernakulam Junction.

Thomas Simon, general secretary of Western India Passengers Association, spoke of how trains often had to wait in the outer of Ernakulam Junction and Town for want of adequate platform capacity at the stations. It is here that the need to revive the Old Railway Station and the Cochin Harbour Terminus gains relevance since a few trains that now terminate at Ernakulam Junction and Town stations can be extended there. The Railways must also extend a few trains to Kottayam, he said.

Both the Railways and agencies such as the Roads and Bridges Development Corporation of Kerala were keen to ready an overbridge at Vathuruthy to prevent frequent closing of the level-crossing gates, prior to extending a few trains from Ernakulam Junction to Cochin Harbour Terminus. The proposal is yet to be finalised, thanks to land acquisition hurdles and concerns raised by the Navy about laying overhead electric lines.

Trains halted service to the Cochin Harbour Terminus in 2004 after a dredger deployed by the Cochin Port rammed the Venduruthy road and rail bridges that were built by the British in 1938. A pair of new bridges were later on built for road and rail transit to Willingdon Island.

As for the Old Railway Station, the Old Railway Station Vikasana Samithi was in the forefront, demanding optimal use of the 42-acre premises located behind the Kerala High Court to decongest Ernakulam Junction.