Union Minister invites MP to discuss underutilised railway land issue

Kochi MP demands optimal use of railway land to decongest stations; Union Railway Minister invites discussion on the issue.

With the stalemate continuing on developing over 100 acres of underutilised railway land in the Ponnurunni-Kathrikadavu areas in the city as an integrated coaching terminal (ICT), Hibi Eden, MP, demanded once again in the Lok Sabha (LS) that the Railways must make optimal use of the land in order to decongest Ernakulam Junction and Town railway stations.

Following this, Union Railway Minister Aswini Vaishnaw invited Mr. Eden to discuss how best to use the land. The MP cited in the LS that new tracks and platforms could not be built for the two stations in the city due to acute paucity of vacant land. This problem could be resolved if the 100 acre Railway land that borders the marshalling yard is put to optimal use in order to host trains. A portion of the prime land located in the city is now being used to repair or maintain trains and to accommodate goods trains, Mr. Eden said.

“The stalemate continues, even though the Railway Land Development Authority (RLDA) had readied a detailed project report in this regard. I would shortly meet the Minister and apprise him of how the issue had been taken up at different levels in the Railway Ministry and review meetings to take stock of rail projects, during the past years. I also took it up with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to Kochi in January,” he added.

Once realised, the ICT would speed up train movement across Kerala since trains would not have to be detained outside Ernakulam Junction and Town stations for want of berthing space.

The Railways had in 2019 directed the RLDA to assess value of the land, when there was a proposal to develop it on public-private partnership (PPP) mode to augment reception capacity for trains. This was after Mr. Eden submitted a preliminary project report on the proposal, which was readied by a private firm, to then Union Railway Minister Piyush Goel.

The delay in taking a call on the project had over the years resulted in it becoming a dumping yard for garbage. “Vast quantity of garbage is dumped near the tracks. This is an eyesore and a health hazard, especially since there are two schools, a church, and a playground in the vicinity,” said Girijavallabhan P.M., a lawyer cum environmental activist.