Much to the relief of the patients at the Medical College Hospital in the city, the Railways will be opening a ticket reservation centre there soon. The location was identified by T N Seema MP based on the ‘1,000 Passenger Reservation System (PRS) Scheme’ announced in the Railway budget 2009-10.
Besides, an amount of Rs 2.5 lakh has been allotted from the MP’s fund towards setting up the infrastructure of the reservation centre.
“We have given the consent to open the reservation counter here and the Railways would set up the centre,” said Medical College Hospital superintendent Dr K Mohandas. Steps are on to open the centre within one month.
Other than the reservation centre at the Thiruvananthapuram Central Railway station, this is the fifth one to be opened in the district. The other centres are at Pattom, Secretariat, Attingal and Nedumangad. According to Railway officials, the space and staff of the prospective reservation counter at Medical College are to be provided by the state government.
“The reservation counter would be helpful for the patients at Medical College, Regional Cancer Centre and Sree Chitra Thirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology. Patients from far off places come to these institutions and the availability of a railway reservation centre nearby would be a relief for their bystanders too,” said T N Seema.
After establishing the reservation centre at Medical College, Railways is planning to open another one at Kochuveli railway station.