Speakers at a discussion organised here by the Kochi pourasamity have suggested that the Railways take steps to renovate the unused Ernakulam Railway Goods (ERG) station — the old Railway station situated behind the High Court as a hub for passenger trains.

The ERG station, which was constructed in 1902 at the initiative of the then Maharaja of Kochi, has the necessary infrastructure, including a station complex and Railway lines linking it with Edappally station. The station building can be utilised while the Railway lines can either be repaired or replaced.

The demand of the pourasamity to revive the ERG station as well as the underutilised Harbour Terminus Railway station in Willingdon Island, comes in the wake of the Ernakulam Junction and Town Railway stations becoming extremely congested due to inadequate space to lay new tracks and the delay by the department in renovating the station buildings.

Participating in the discussion, former Union Minister of State for Railways, Mr O. Rajagopal, pointed out that that the Railway Ministry had carried out a study on reviving the ERG station. He said the proposed mainline electric multiple unit (MEMU) trains can be based at the ERG station linking the city with Thrissur, Palakkad, Alappuzha and Kottayam.

While the metro rail is a system of mass rapid transport and will take its time to be built, he said the 22 acres of land owned by the Railways in the ERG station with all infrastructures in place can easily be developed into a hub for trains without any land acquisition.

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