COIMBATORE: Podanur railway junction turned 160 on Thursday. Despite being the third oldest railway station in Madras Railway region, after Royapuram (Chennai) and Tiruchy, it neither has the infrastructure nor enough train services to commensurate with the hoary past.
Built in 1862, Podanur is older than the Chennai central station (1871), and was built by the British as part of a trunk route between Chennai and Kozhikode.
"We are proud to live in the vicinity of a historice landmark, but do not benefit from it as there are not enough train services. Trains should be operated via Podanur to Rameswaram,Karikkal, Tuticorin, and Tirunelveli so that passengers and industrialists can benefit," said J Sathish, a member of the infrastructure committee of ICCI and train enthusiast. "With the station reaching yet another milestone, it is time for officials to introduce new trains," said C Balasubramanian, President of ICCI.
The first train between Podanur and Mettupalayam was introduced in 1873. 26 years later, the Mettupalayam - Coonoor Nilgiris Mountain Railway (NMR) was developed in 1899.
K Jayaraj, DRUCC member, said,"The Railways decided to set up pit-lines and stabling lines aimed to decongest traffic in Coimbatore in 2016. But nothing was done to develop or upgrade Podanur. It should be developed at the earliest since the proposed new integrated bus terminal project at Vellalore is close to Podanur."
"Podanur railway station was set up 160 years ago, yet several trains do not halt here. Also, officials are not taking steps to preserve buildings in the station," he added.
Railway historian Dr Ramakrishnan recalled that Podanur was built to move locomotives from England that were unloaded in Kozhikode.
"Several Anglo Indian and British families setlled in Podanur due to the train connectivity. They used to visit Coonoor and Ooty by bullock carts beore train connectivity was established. A tomb for a loco pilot who was killed in a tiger attack in 1868 is testimony to the role of Podanur in the railway map of the country."