Kerala fixes 4 rail stations on rebuilding radar

Four railway stations in the State – Kozhikode, Ernakulam Junction, Kottayam, and Palakkad – are among the 90 stations in the country that are to be rebuild to showcase local culture or history on the station façade. The aim is to give an aesthetic makeover to the most visited stations, apart from an attempt to increase passenger amenities. The Kozhikode station is among the 23 stations in the country that will be developed with world-class facilities at a cost of Rs.75 crore. Ernakulam, which has been identified for the Smart City mission project, also figures on the list of 10 railway stations across the country to be redeveloped by the special purpose vehicle to be formed under the Union Ministries of Railways and Urban Development. The concept has been mooted to improve passenger services at the railway stations. So far the Ministry of Railways has not offered any proper instructions in this regard, Divisional Railway Manager, Palakkad Division, Naresh Lalwani, said, adding that the redevelopment plan of 90 stations has already been assigned to different zones and other nodal agencies. The executing agency for the Kozhikode, Palakkad and Kottayam railway stations will be the railway zone (Southern Railway) while for Ernakulam, it will be NBCC (India) Limited, he insisted.