Traffic, crowd chaos hit rail passengers
T'puram: The traffic and station congestion at Thiruvananthapuram Central railway station is inconveniencing the people as there is a rush to travel home by train on most days for summer holidays.
The vehicles that drive into the railway station hold up traffic on the main road, while there is poor crowd control inside the station.
The walk to the railway station along the main porch where cars and cabs drop passengers, is not smooth because a crowd throngs the entrance to check the digital board for train details.
Once this ordeal is over, people walk in and stand around a small coach position board installed on Platform one. Though much of the information is available on mobile, people prefer to monitor the digital boards at the station to prevent errors.
Other than the main entrance, the station has only a small narrow entry/exit, and the reservation counter area is packed with people. The arriving passengers too find it difficult because they have to walk through the moving traffic of taxis, pre-paid autos and the cars that arrive and park to pick up passengers.
The station has its limitations because it is a heritage building constructed 95 years ago, but the railways is not carrying out crowd control on the premises.
The traffic congestion is unlikely to be resolved when the Rs 495 crore redevelopment is completed too, as not much space is allocated for movement of vehicles in front of the station at Thampanoor. Though the entry and exit may get broadened, it will not be adequate to cater to the increase in vehicle flow into the railway station in the coming years.
B Susobhanan, vice-president of Dakshin Railway Employees Union, T'puram, said the redevelopment of the railway station as it is planned now will not end the congestion. "There is no space to add more platforms unless the pitlines are removed. This means that people will have to use the same facility. It's more of a real estate development than the enhancement of transportation needs of the people," he added.