Redevelopment of Ernakulam Town station to be completed by September next year

The redevelopment work at the Ernakulam Town railway station is nearing the halfway mark.

The work has been completed on the vacant space beside the station, even though the old station building that is still operational is yet to be handed over to the contracting firm. This structure would be pulled down and replaced with a new one as part of the redevelopment project, railway sources said.

Prior to its dismantling, the existing amenities at the station building will be shifted to the new building, which was built during the course of the past two years as part of the redevelopment project. Additional amenities will be set up at the location where the station building now exists. “Although the initial deadline of August this year has expired for the redevelopment work, we hope that all the pending works at the station, including parking lots, can be completed by September 2026,” they added.

Traffic issues

Meanwhile, demand is rife to streamline traffic on both Ernakulam Town and South railway station premises and to prevent haphazard parking.

“The Railways must at least now make optimal use of available space and ensure streamlined flow of vehicles at the two stations,” said K.S. Dileep Kumar, president of Ernakulam Vikasana Samithi. “Here, extra effort must be made to augment infrastructure at the Ernakulam Town station since the Kochi Corporation-owned land nearby can be used for vehicle parking. In addition, the Old Railway Station located behind the Kerala High Court must be revived and used as a hub for short-distance trains. This is crucial to avoid trains being held up in the outer of Ernakulam Town which has just two platforms,” he added.

Much of the present problems could have been avoided if the Railways had developed the eastern entry to the Ernakulam South and Town stations, said Viju Choolakkal, secretary of Karithala Poura Samithi. “At Ernakulam South, the Railways ought to have purchased the building owned by the Greater Cochin Development Authority (GCDA) that was offered a decade ago for ₹10 crore. Not many commuters have been using the wide eastern entry of the Ernakulam South station since the sixth platform does not have a lift or escalator linking the foot overbridge that leads all the way to platform one. Such a facility would also have saved the time and fuel that commuters from residential areas in the city waste as they cross the overbridges at Ernakulam South and Ernakulam North to reach the station’s main entry located on its western side,” he added.

Commuters have also been demanding widening of the bottlenecked exits of Ernakulam North and South stations, where vehicles and pedestrians are often stranded. Railway sources said that much of the traffic chaos at the two stations could be prevented if motorists took care not to park their vehicles near the entry and exit to the two stations.