COIMBATORE: After a three-decade gap, the Kovilpalayam railway station near Kinathukadavu is set to reopen following demands from passengers and passenger associations.
The Palakkad Railway Division has decided to revive the station, and the Southern Railway has accorded permission for the project, which includes a crossing line and other infrastructure. The station, located between Kinathukadavu and Pollachi, was closed around 34 years ago, reportedly due to poor patronage.
Pollachi MP K Eswarasamy had raised the issue in Parliament, following which railway officials approved it.
R Senthil Kumara Moorthy, former president of Mullupadi Gram Panchayat, who led a team campaigning for the revival of the station, said the demand had been pursued vigorously over the past three years.
"Meeting railway officials, submitting petitions to the Southern Railway General Manager and the Divisional Railway Manager, and pressing the demand for reviving Kovilpalayam station was intensified through MPs and MLAs in the last three years," he said.
According to him, the railway station functioned until 1992, when trains halted at Kovilpalayam railway station en route to Tirunelveli, Kanniyakumari and Rameswaram. "A railway station should be set up every 10 km for passengers. However, there is no station for more than 10 km on this stretch.
Over the past three decades, population has doubled, and several industries have started functioning in the region, employing hundreds of migrant workers," he said. He added that many migrant workers currently travel by bus to Coimbatore to board trains to their native places.
K Shivamohan, a Kinathukadavu-based railway enthusiast and secretary of the Welfare Association of Rail Passengers, Coimbatore-Pollachi-Palani-Dindigul, welcomed the decision.
"We thank the Palakkad Railway Division officials for fulfilling our long-pending demand. Apart from migrant workers, the station will also benefit college students and office-goers who currently depend on two-wheelers and buses to travel to Coimbatore. Once trains start halting at the station, passengers will be able to save money by travelling by train. We expect more trains to operate on this route before the infrastructure at Kovilpalayam station is completed," he said.
Senthil Kumara Moorthy and his team are planning to convene a meeting in the coming days to thank railway officials, MPs and MLAs and discuss further measures required for the development and improvement of Kovilpalayam railway station.
He also said that the station building was demolished during the gauge conversion work and that a new building would have to be constructed. At present, the station premises are overgrown with bushes and remain in a neglected condition.
Sources in the Palakkad Railway Division said the Southern Railway headquarters in Chennai has sanctioned `35.36 crore for establishing a new crossing station at Kovilpalayam. The work will commence through the tender process and the station will be reopened after all works are completed in more than a year's time.