Kochi set for new terminus? Railways assesses Irumpanam yard option
KOCHI: When it comes to railway infrastructure, Kochi may strike gold in the coming years.
Indications are that the prospects of a new ‘terminus’ in the city, besides Ernakulam Junction and Ernakulam Town, have brightened. Should the plans take off, one of the long-awaited dreams of the people of Ernakulam district will come to fruition. According to a railway source, the new terminus could come up at the Irumpanam marshalling yard.
“The (Thiruvananthapuram) division is planning to develop the terminus. However, for the plans to turn into a reality, steps like a survey have to be carried out. We have to verify many other parameters to ascertain its feasibility,” a railway source told TNIE. As for the marshalling yard, it is understood that another space will be identified.
However, when contacted, Thiruvananthapuram divisional railway manager (DRM) Manish Thaplyal said the plans are in the concept stage.
It is worth noting that the 110-acre marshalling yard at Irumpanam, near Tripunithura, has enough land to construct 15 platforms, six pit-lines and 10 stabling lines. The Railways will not have to acquire any land for the new terminus.
While the demand for such a facility has been raised time and again, nothing has materialised up to now, said P M Veeramani, former president of the Cochin Chamber of Commerce.
“The new terminus will help solve the congestion at the Ernakulam Junction railway station,”he said.
According to the railway source, the plans for a new terminus came up after it was deemed that no further expansion was possible at Ernakulam Town. On the station redevelopment in progress at the two major stations in the city, Thaplyal said the work at Ernakulam Town will be over by 2027. “One segment of the construction work will be completed this financial year,” he said.
As for Ernakulam Junction, he said re-tendering will be done for the remaining work at the station. The contractor -- Bridge and Roof Company (India) -- was fired from the job after complaints poured in regarding shoddy work.
The company has been blacklisted for future railway projects. In another positive railway news for the district, the halt station proposed near the Kochi airport -- in Nedumbassery, near Angamaly -- will be built at a cost of Rs 18 crore.
“The station will be operational within two and a half years. It will be a halt station with high-level platforms connected with foot overbridges. An automated passenger information system will be in place. Approach roads will also be constructed to provide road connectivity to the airport. And the airport will operate a shuttle service,” Thaplyal said. With regard to the Cochin Harbour Terminus, which is one of the two heritage stations in Kochi, the Railways is offering private players an opportunity to turn it into a museum-cum-tourist space.
“Expressions of Interest were called many times in the past. We will be floating one another soon. The terminus has a lot of potential as a tourist attraction,” the DRM said. Currently, the IRCTC operates tourist services occasionally from the Harbour Terminus, he added.