The Hindu : Front Page : Demand to develop suburban rail stations

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Saturday, May 24, 2008
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Demand to develop suburban rail stations

John L. Paul

KOCHI: There is an increasing demand to develop the railway stations at Thripunithura and Kalamassery, considering the eastward growth of Kochi city.

The demand has gained strength in the context of numerous residential areas coming up on the city’s east. Shops and business establishments too have been shifting to places such as the NH bypass, Kalamassery, Kakkanad and Thripunithura. This has resulted in thousands of people residing and working in these places being forced to endure maddening traffic snarls in the city and unnecessarily spending time and money to reach the two major railway stations – the Ernakulam Town and Junction stations.

The development of Thripunithura and Kalamassery stations would also mean fewer vehicles on the road, since vehicles taking train commuters to the two city stations will be off the roads.

The Kalamassery Pourasamity recently demanded that the Kalamassery railway station be developed and more trains allotted a stop there. A delegation led by K Chandran Pillai, MP, met Railway Board Chairman K.C. Jena and submitted a memorandum demanding that Railways deploy a high-level team to study the need to stop more trains at the station. For residents of Thripunithura, commuting by train to Kottayam is easier than travelling to Kochi through congested roads. Railways must develop it as a major station and more trains must be allotted a stop here, said S. Ramakrishnan, physiotherapist at Kottayam Medical College.

Divisional Railway Manager Titus Koshy said though developing the two stations is ideal, there has to be an assurance on the financial returns.

“Many of the travellers are season ticket holders. Railways will have to spend quite a high amount on bettering the facilities. Under the present circumstances, it would be ideal if feeder buses run from different places in the city to the two major stations,” Mr Koshy said.

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