Even as the saturated railway line and terminal facilities hamper the introduction of new mail and express trains in the railway network of the State, the Railways are able to make use of only 30% of the terminal facilities in Kochuveli railway terminal.
Although 63 long distance mail and express trains can be handled at the terminal in a week, the Railways are operating just 17 mail and express trains a week.
“We are able to utilise only 30% of the terminal facilities at present. Lack of connectivity from the city and reluctance of commuters to board from Kochuveli are the hurdles,” Divisional Railway Manager Prakash Bhutani told The Hindu .
The 17229 Hyderabad-bound Sabari Express that was announced from Kochuveli terminal had to commence operations from Thiruvananthapuram Central solely on account of this and efforts to shift it to the satellite terminal had not succeeded.
The satellite terminal has two platforms, three pit lines for urgent maintenance, and three stabling yards. The Railways can also make use of the two platforms of the Kochuveli pass-through station on the Thiruvananthapuram-Kollam line.
The 143-m-long and three-metre-wide foot overbridge, constructed at a cost of ₹2.5 crore, commissioned recently links the old Kochuveli station, Kochuveli terminal, four platforms, and yard.
Even when the under-utilisation of the facilities in the satellite terminal is going on, the Railways are forced to give an extended journey for long distance mail and express trains to Nagercoil junction and Kanyakumari. The inability to handle trains at Thiruvananthapuram central and lack of the standard pit lines to take up urgent maintenance of coaches are the reasons cited.
The 12626 Kerala Express that reaches from New Delhi at the central station is daily taken to Kochuveli for maintenance and returned. This laborious process along the seven km mainline when there is no traffic and using a locomotive and men involves risk and is causing revenue loss to the Railways, he said.
Round-the-clock connectivity from the central bus station at Thampanoor and East Fort can make full use of the Kochuveli terminal. Autorickshaw and taxi drivers fleece passengers coming to the terminal despite the crackdown. Although the KSRTC commenced low floor bus services via the terminal after a lot of public pressure, it has almost been discontinued.
