Hope of reviving harbour terminus station gets brighter
The Hindu
Revival of Cochin Harbour Terminus station: Top Southern Railway officials visit premises to explore extending trains from Ernakulam Junction. 2018 DEMU train service operated for few days. 2022, Railway probed feasibility of laying third track to source power.
The hope of extending trains from Ernakulam Junction railway station to Cochin Harbour Terminus has revived following a visit by top Southern Railway officials to the underutilised station earlier this week.
The sprawling premises of the heritage station had been renovated over six years ago to decongest Ernakulam Junction by extending a few trains to the harbour terminus. A diesel electrical multiple unit (DEMU) train service was operated in the Ernakulam Junction-harbour terminus corridor for a few days in 2018.
With concerns being raised of overhead powerlines, if installed, posing threat to the safety of aircraft taking off from the adjacent naval airport, the Railway had in 2022 probed the feasibility of laying a third track parallel to the track that led from Ernakulam Junction to harbour terminus to source power. This followed logistical problems in case a diesel loco had to be deployed to take rakes to the heritage station. Kerala Rail Development Corporation Limited (KRDCL) was subsequently tasked with probing the feasibility of laying the third rail.
Railway sources said the proposal was put on hold since laying a third track brought along with it problems such as potential harm to people and animals crossing the tracks. Such traction was feasible only within fenced corridors, they added.
The sources said the recent visit to the premises by a team of senior officials was part of Railways’ efforts to revive usage of idling railway stations. The harbour terminus has an eight-track yard, a goods shed, and two platforms, all of which have been lying underutilised after trains stopped calling at the station for the past 15 years.
Speedy construction of a long-overdue overbridge at Vathuruthy by Roads and Bridges Development Corporation of Kerala Limited held the key to reviving the station.
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