The Rs.-5.50 crore subway the Southern Railway has constructed at the Coimbatore Railway Junction remains underutilised. The subway’s exit on the eastern side of the junction at Platform 1A leads to a narrow passage between the Coimbatore Collectorate and District Police Office, which at present could be used only by pedestrians, said R. Raveendran, Member, District Railway Users Consultative Council.
The passage leads to the State Bank Road, through the District Police Office.
Those commuters using vehicles to move out of the junction would have to use the subway to reach the already congested main entrance on the State Bank Road, negating the very purpose for which the subway has been constructed.
If the district administration were to help the railway administration, the city’s residents could have a third exit at the junction, he said.
Sources in the railway divisional headquarters in Salem said that the Divisional Officer Subhranshu and his predecessor Sujatha Jayaraj had written to the Coimbatore district administration asking for the land around the passage, that runs west-east between Platform 1A and the State Bank Road. If the district administration were to bring down a few dilapidated buildings and a few more in disuse and the District Police Office also give space, a road with the width to accommodate two cars could be laid.
Not only that, the railway administration would also construct a multi-level car parking and a new reservation counter at Rs. 7.50 crore, as part of the railway junction development work.
Sources in the district administration work, they would look into the proposal once the elections were over and the model code of conduct lifted.
