Richard Hay, the Anglo-Indian MP hailing from Thalassery, on Monday visited the Old Railway Station behind the High Court and said he would put pressure on the Centre to make it the country’s first green railway station.
“The renovation of the Old Railway Station will be a solution to the city’s traffic woes. Though the Centre has set aside Rs.15 crore in the budget for the purpose, the work is stalled by lack of cooperation from the Kochi Corporation,” he said.
According to him, the railway station, located near the Mangalavanam bird sanctuary, is a potential tourism destination. Though the Union government allocated a fund of Rs.15 crore in the last railway budget for renovating the facility, the city corporation had yet to initiate the process to relocate the families residing in the area.
Arriving at the station here around 5 p.m., the MP was accorded a warm reception by office-bearers of the Old Railway Station Vikasana Samiti.
Situated close to the market with water transport facilities available nearby, the station was a key landmark in Kochi’s history as the State’s commercial capital.
The station was built in 1902 by King Rama Varma of the erstwhile Kingdom of Cochin, who also established the Shoranur-Kochi railway line.
