Despite redevelopment, commuters say Thiruvananthapuram North lacks key facilities

Thiruvananthapuram: Southern Railway may have completed the development of Thiruvananthapuram North (Kochu Veli) railway station by adding lifts, platforms and more pit lines, but passengers say that some key amenities have been left out.The development work, carried out in phases, began in 2023 as part of the Rs 156 crore redevelopment of railway facilities in the Thiruvananthapuram area and to decongest Thiruvananthapuram Central railway station. The station, which now has seven platforms, has lifts at the first and seventh platforms. However, A Pradeep from Veli Railway Passengers Association said that a lot more needs to be done to improve the travel experience. There should be a ticket counter at platform 1, all platforms should have end-to-end shelters, there should be refreshment stalls at all platforms and more trains should have stoppages to improve the patronage of the station. He said that there is a snack stall only at platform 6 and passengers who come to board Rajya Rani Express to Nilambur face inconvenience in buying water and food. "Except for passenger trains, the express trains terminating at the Thiruvananthapuram Central railway station do not have stop here. If the railways allow a stop here, it would be easy for people who have to go to the medical college, Sreekaryam and Pattom areas. The idea was to decongest the Central station, but all these people have to get down there and board buses or autorickshaws from Thampanoor to get to these places." Passengers also want better traffic management on the roads leading to the station on weekends. Many people coming to the station to board the evening Mysuru Express get stuck in traffic because of the vehicles headed to a mall near Akkulam bridge. Meanwhile, the railway is using the yard to the maximum to maintain trains that depart from the Central station. The pit lines have been improved for better maintenance of trains, including for Vande Bharat trains. This has helped the railways run special trains from the North station. The railways also announced special trains from the station because of the IndiGo airlines crisis that has disrupted flight schedules. Sources said that works like restroom improvement as part of amenities for staff are ongoing because more staff will be required at the station as there are plans to launch more train services from here.