KOCHI: The old railway station, a 120-year-old facility of historical importance, lies abandoned near the High Court junction in a 42-acre jungle, covered by creepers. Kochi King Rama Varma had sold his crown and the golden ornaments stored in the Sree Poornathrayeesa Temple at Tripunithura to complete the work on the station.
It was at this station that Mahatma Gandhi had got down on his way to attend Vaikom Satyagraha in 1924. The station also witnessed the arrivals of Swami Vivekananda and Rabindranath Tagore. The facility was abuzz with activities till the Ernakulam South Railway Station came into being in 1936. Passenger trains stopped services to the station in 1960s while it was converted into a goods shed in 2001.
“The old railway station development committee has been striving hard to revive this station. If we can refurbish the harbour station on the Willingdon Island and the old railway station, then the traffic congestion at the north and south stations can be reduced. Trains can be diverted to this station which has enough space. There was also a plan to start a train named Porbandar Express in memory of Mahatma Gandhi,” says committee member K P Harihara Kumar.” The city’s outlook will change if the railway station is renovated. The traffic on the roads will also come down,’’ he said.
In 2014, then railway minister Suresh Prabhu had visited the place and announced that the old station would be developed as the country’s first green station. “The station once gave employment to more than 300 people. Over 250 lorries used to reach here.
As much as Rs 2 crore was spent for renovating the station before Covid,” said Shimmy, 50, who lives close to the railway station. The committee is planning to organise a programme named ‘Gandhi Padh’ at the old station as part of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav.