The Hindu : Kerala News : Ernakulam-Kottayam railway line completes 50 years

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Oct 20, 2006
ePaper

Kerala

Kerala

Ernakulam-Kottayam railway line completes 50 years

Staff Reporter

KOCHI: The rail connection between Ernakulam and Kottayam has completed 50 years of existence, though no official ceremonies were organised to mark the occasion.

The link was opened on October 17, 1956 by the then Union Railway Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri. This vital link between Kollam and Ernakulam was established after sustained demands for proper connectivity to tap the trading and commercial potential of the new State.

The work was inaugurated by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru on December 24, 1952, though the metre gauge project between Ernakulam and Kollam was first proposed in 1921, said a press release issued by the Railways.

Before this linkage was established, the Shoranur-Cochin line, owned by the erstwhile Cochin nation state, was there. The train service from the erstwhile Madras State was only up to Kollam. It was extended to Trivandrum only by November 4, 1931.

The metre gauge was later converted to broad gauge and with the increase in traffic it was doubled. Currently, the Railways have taken up the electrification of the stretch between Thiruvananthapuram and Ernakulam, said the press release.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Kerala

News Update

Stories in this Section