Southern Railways to operate special trains to clear Sabarimala rush

Kochi: With a view to clear extra rush of traffic During the Sabarimala pilgrimage season, the Southern Railways will operate two pairs of special trains in the Chennai-Kollam section. The bi-weekly special fare train (T No 06041) will leave Chennai Central at 6.20 pm on Mondays and Wednesdays from November 13 to January 17, 2018. It will reach Kollam the next day at 11 am. Similarly Train No 06042 Kollam-Chennai central Biweekly special fare special will leave Kollam at 4.15 pm on Tuesday and Thursdays from November 14 to January 18, 2018, to reach its destination the next day at 8:30 am.

The train will have stoppages at Kayamkulam, Chengannur, Tiruvalla, Changanassery, Kottayam, Ernakulam Town, Aluva, Thrissur, Palakkad, Coimbatore, Tiruppur, Erode, Salem, Jolarpettai, Katpadi, Arakkonam and Perambur. The weekly Suvidha special train (T No 82635) will leave Chennai Central at 10.30 pm on November 17 and 24 to reach Kollam the next day at 2.30 pm.

In the return direction, Train No 82636 will leave Kollam at 3.15 pm on November 19 and 26 to reach Chennai the next day at 7.20 am. Similarly Train No 06043 Chennai central-Kollam weekly special fare special will leave Chennai central at 10.30 pm on Fridays from December one to January 19, 2018.  It will reach Kollam the next day at 2.30 pm.

MP seeks stops at Kadalundi

 MK Raghavan, MP, has  sent fax messages to Indian Railway board chairman Ashwani Lohani, Southern Railway manager Sudhanshu Mani and Palakkad divisional railway manager Naresh Lalvani to permit temporary stop for seven trains at Kadalundi station on account of Vavu festival on October 18 and 19.  The stops are sought for Parasuram Express, Ernakulam- Kannur executive express, Ernad Express, Coimbatore- Mangalore Intercity Express, Kannur-Ernakulam Intercity Express, Chennai mail and Thiruvananthapuram Express.

Second terminal at Kollam soon

The Kollam railway station will  get a major facelift with the opening of the second terminal by  the end of this financial year.  It will provide access to the passengers from the Kollam- Thirumangalam national highway.   The new terminal will have better facilities,  including a parking lot that can  accommodate 750 cars at a time giving direct access to commuters to the booking office. This would also ease the traffic congestion due to parking woes.  The construction of foot overbridge connecting all five platforms is being completed.   A lift and escalator will be installed for the overbridge.  The parcel office functioning near  the main entrance of the station will be shifted to facilitate easy passenger entry.

The new entrance, including vehicle parking, will be set up near the Craven’s school at Chinnakkada. The foot overbridge will also be extended to the new project area along with the construction of a compound wall. Previously, the commuters going to the eastern side of the district had to walk from the existing terminal to Chinnakkada square to board buses. With the new entrance, this can  be avoided. The space available for parking within the terminal also was insufficient and the road got congested with vehicles parking outside the compound along the roadside. 

This issue will also be  rectified with the opening of the new terminal. The Kollam railway station thus will have two entrances from Alappuzha-Thiruvananthapuram highway and Kollam-Thirumangalam highway. The commuters from the KSRTC bus station and the water gateway can make use of the new terminal.   A plan to extend Ananthapuri Express  connecting Thiruvananthapuram and Chennai to Kollam is also under consideration of the railways.