Eastern gate of South Railway station lying idle

KOCHI: Even as the city reels under acute traffic congestion, the eastern entry gate of the Ernakulam Junction Railway Station, which enables commuters to enter the railway station without enduring the city traffic, is silently celebrating its ninth year of disuse.At present, only the ground floor of the building is being used by the railways and consists of a ticket counter, a few stalls and ATM counters. The ticket counter does not include a reservation counter and hence is not put to optimal use.“Around 80 per cent of commuters coming to the Ernakulam Junction Railway Station are from the eastern side of the city. If this building is put to proper use, it will be immensely useful for them all. Now that the traffic congestion in the city has increased owing to the North rail overbridge demolition, the proper utilisation of the building is very much important,” said Viju Choolackal of the Karithala Poura Samiti. The five-storey structure, built by the Greater Cochin Development Authority (GCDA) in 2003 under the Ernakulam Junction Railway Station Eastern Entry Project, was actually meant to be handed over to the railway after completion. But a tiff between the Railways and the GCDA regarding the price at which the building should be handed over, resulted in the present state of the structure.“There are several Railways-related offices that work in rented spaces in the city, like the Railway Claims Tribunal which is paying `22,000 as rent and the Railway Claims Presenting Officer’s office which is paying `7,000 as rent. If the Railways takes over this building, all these Railways-related offices can be brought under one roof,” noted Viju.However, the Railways maintained that the proposal to take over the building from the GCDA is still under consideration.