The decision to temporarily terminate some train services at Edappally in the next week, as part of the renovation work at Ernakulam Town Station, is likely to give a tough time to passengers as the station lacks even basic facilities.
The Railways are currently planning to end the journey of four trains at Edappally station. The Ernakulam-Palakkad MEMU service will be terminated at Edappally on April 24, the Shornur-Ernakulam passenger on April 20, the Guruvayur-Ernakulam Jn passenger on April 24 and Nizamuddin-Ernakulam Mangla Express on April 20.
Passengers who get down at Edappally will find it hard to access the main road from the station. Even to get a bus or an auto the passengers will have to walk their way either to Ponekkara or to the Amritha hospital.
“There is a road behind the first platform of the station but it is as good as non-existent. If the Railways had properly maintained the road, passengers would get easy access to the Ponekkara bus stop,” said Pius Joseph, the councillor representing the area in Kochi Corporation.
Several projects that were mooted to provide accessibility to the station are waiting to see the light of the day. The land acquisition work on a proposed overbridge from Ponekkara to Amritha is also moving at a snail’s pace. “There is a road in front of old registrar office there. The road from Ponekkara should be connected to the National Highway via this road to provide better accessibility for passengers who get down at the station,” said Pius Joseph.
Ironically, the station which was supposed to be elevated to “international status” as part of a project floated at 2010, is cruelly short of basic amenities. When “City Express” went to the station on Friday morning, there was no clerk available at the ticket counter.
The station master said the counter is manned by a single clerk but admitted that there is a shortage of men to man the station, especially during the night Also, there is no recourse from the scorching sun and rain for passengers who use the second platform, since there is no roof.
The Railway authorities however does not consider these issues as serious.
“This is only a temporary arrangement until the work gets over on April 29. So it won’t cause much trouble for passengers. The Mangla train will move to Ernakulam after the passengers alight at Edappally, therefore the pantry car will not be affected. No night trains will be terminated at Edappally, so there is no security issue related to the accessibility of passengers to main roads,” said Ashok Kumar Railway Area Manager.