A comprehensive project will be formed to revive the the old railway station (formerly the Ernakulam Railway Goods Station) located behind the Kerala High Court here. This has been decided at a high-level committee meeting held in the presence of Union Minister K V Thomas in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday. The 35-acre land in possession of the Railways will be utilised for the project. The proposal under consideration is to construct six railway tracks, Pachalam railway overbridge and a ten storey commercial complex.
The minister said that the project implementing as part of the Metro rail project was also under active consideration. Upon implementation four tracks will be dedicated to express trains and two tracks for suburban trains. The project will be implemented on public-private partnership mode. The envisaged commercial complex, with a space of one lakh sqft on each floor, is expected to garner revenue for the Railways. Railway Thiruvananthapuram Divisional Manager Rajesh Agarwal presented the draft of the project at the meeting. Mayor Tony Chammanny, MLAs Hibi Eden, Dominic Presentation, Ludy Louis and Railway officials participated.
It has been decided to convene a comprehensive meeting with the representatives of Railways, Kerala Roads and Bridges Corporation and various experts next month in Kochi.
Following this a high-level committee meeting in the presence of Chief Minister Oommen Chandy will finalise the project. “The Railways has made it clear that a double line track can be built from old railway station to Pachalam without land acquisition,”said K V Thomas.