Cochin Harbour Terminus - A Tribute

Commemorating Cochin Harbour Terminus:


The Railway Station Which Hopes For The Best -




Let us first thank Sir Robert Bristow, who surveyed Cochin and made master plan for Wellington Island, which is currently the safest harbour in our peninsula.

Wellington Island had an airport, Seaport, Railway station and bus station within 3 kilometers radius, the only one of its kind in the whole world.

Cochin Harbour Terminus became functional in 1940’s with passenger train Shornur – Cochin. Later on it served lot of prestigious train services. Those days a movie was released named Cochin Express starring Prem Nasir. The word Cochin became famous all around travelers.

Some of the prestigious train services from CHTS were:

• 935/936 CHTS - Netravati express (now 6345/6346 TVC- Netravati exp)
• 957/958 CHTS - Dadar express (now discontinued)
• 929/930 Hyderabad - Cochin express (now 7029/7030 TVC - HYB Sabari express)
• 903/904 Cochin - Rajkot express (now 6337/6338 ERS - HAPA exp)
• 909/910 CHTS - Patna express (Now ERS - Patna 6309/6310 exp)
• 937/938 CHTS - HAPA express (now 6337/6338 ERS - HAPA exp)
• 911/912 CHTS - GKP Raptisagar express (now 5011/5012 TVC - GKP Raptisagar exp)
• CHTS - Indore, CHTS - Bilaspur (now TVC - Indore, TVC - Bilaspur)
• 923/924 CHTS - HWH (now 6323/6324 TVC - HWH)
• Cochin - Varanasi (now 6359/6360 ERS - Rajendra Nagar exp)

Ride Across Venduruthy Bridge from CHTS



Just check the link below to see how freight movement was going on in Cochin station in the past.

cochin station

Sad End of Cochin Terminus:

In 1978, railways short listed two stations, Cochin Harbour Terminus and Trivandrum Central to base the new division at. Ultimately, TVC won the race.

There was a huge uproar in the newspapers and the parliament due to the selection. Trivandrum was a much smaller station then. It was mere political interference which gave TVC, the divisional status.

Another reason for sad end of CHTS was delay in granting permission for electrification from ERS to CHTS by INDIAN NAVY. Hence all trains were moved to ERS and subsequently to Alleppey and TVC. Navy gave permission only in 2002.

article by jimmy jose

There were plans by authorities to transform CHTS to a rail museum. Nobody knows what happened. Probably Kochi will rank first if we consider the mammoth amount of projects proposed!!!

express article on rail museum

Now Rail Bridge is under construction parallel to the existing bridge. After it completes, the 6 km line from ERS to CHTS will be electrified and we could expect city service from Ernakulam to real Kochi.

new rail bridge

As a matter of fact, the 17th chapter of Arundhathi Roy’s famous book The God of Small Things is based on events at CHTS named Cochin Harbour Terminus.

The current Dilapidated Condition of CHTS -

>


Even today railway stations in Ernakulam are deprived of development, because majority of amount allotted to Trivandrum division under southern railway is spent in Trivandrum station. As a result Ernakulam South, which is busiest railway station in Kerala, has a unique distinction of being the rare first class station which doesn’t have even an A/C waiting hall or a modern reservation hall.

Lot has to happen from scratch level. Currently ERS faces a lot of issues with regard to passgenger comforts. The modernisation of ERS and ERN are nowhere. There is no scope of expansion of ERS and ERN.

(note: I would be called a plagiarist if I don't thank Jimmy Jose sir, who has the most authentic information about rail systems especially in and around Kerala and to be specific Cochin. He is well known for his staunch love towards Cochin Harbour Terminus.)


You all can suggest what best could be done to expand the rail system in Ernakulam / Kochi.

Shenoy

Beautiful Beaches in Cochin

Cherai Beach - It is considered to be one the busiest beach in Kerala. It is of course the most popular beach in Kerala, with a trade mark attached to it called Cherai Beach Resorts.



Dutch Cemetery - The laid out evidence for the existence of Dutch colonies in the past. It was built in 1757.


Munambam Beach: An envy to Cherai, Munambam beach soon wil become a must see beach for people visiting Cherai beach. The recreational facilities needs to be strenghtened in the beach. They have a vast area for it.


Munambam Beach is a natural beauty that you have a walkway there; on one side it is sea beach and on the other side it has lake area with Chinese nets!!!Indeed a great place to spend your evening. But for Kochiites it is 35 kms from Ernakulam.


Pallathankulangara Beach: Yet another unexplored beach in Ernakulam. This is just 3 kms from Pallathankulangara Devi temple near Kuzhupilly. To be specific it is 16 kms from Vypeen and 19 kms from High Court area!It is absolutely a great place to watch out.


PuthuVype Light House: The only Light House in Kochi. It was supposed to come in FortKochi, but lack of proper space to build it forced authorities to build it on opposite shore making it less popular. Had it been in FortKochi, it would have attracted 100 times more tourists.


Puthuvype Beach: Once an unexplored beach in Kochi, is now visited by many. It is clean (as less tourists!!!)


I feel that Kochi has a great potential to promote beach areas, as we have FortKochi beach, Puthuvype, Kuzhuppilly beach, Pallathankulangara beach, Chrai and Munamban beach, all on same island excpet for FortCochin. The proposed Vypeen - Moothakunnam road through sea side could make Kochi a great place.

Shenoy!

Gujarati Community in Kochi and neighbourhood.

Culture of Cochin is something which is unique.

In various towns and cities across India, there are various communities who form part of that city, but they would be there just for business or such related activities. But Kochi is far away from these.

Kochi had earlier attracted business men and later allured them to make Kochi as their second home.

The best example for this is the Gujarati community in Kochi.

Muslim ruler attacked Gujarat, they fled to various parts of India. One group travelled south to reach Calicut, Cochin, Allepey and Thiruvananthapuram. The terror of Muhammed Gaazni was so dreadful in their minds that they wanted to settle down in a place where the arms of the Muslim invaders could not reach them. They considered Cochin as their choicest abode as it provided both peaceful atmosphere and plenty of opportunity for trade. They obtained grants of land from his Highness Raja of Cochin and along with it all the security was assured to them for whatever trade they conducted there.


While Cochin and Calicut Gujarati's maintained their culture, the Gujarati's aroung Sri Padbanabaswamy temple got much mixed with the locals that they don't speak Gujarati, eventhough they remember their grandfathers having spoken Gujarati.

Gujarati's were and are great traders. Since the Gujarati traders were the Chief exporting agents their quantum of trade had to be increased beyond all their expectations. Cochin became the center of activities where adequate facilities were available for the storage of goods and their exportation.

A copper plate issued by the Raja of Cochin Veera Kerala Varma in the year 1929 speaks about the special favours granted to them.

In the year 1887 there was a flow of Gujarati families to Cochin. 72 families reached Cochin during the year. They were provided with necessary facilities for settlement and they could live in exclusive area where they could preserve all their traditions and practices without any local interference. In Cochin, the Gujarati communities preserved all their culture and traditions.

Currently there are around 800 families of Gujarati's with a population of around 4000 in Cochin. Most of them live in Mattancherry area of Cochin. As a matter of fact Mattancherry is considered to be the most densly populated town in Kerala.

population of gujaratis

Today Mattancherry has changed its face from the old phrase as a Goonda area to an area with real communal harmony. We could see numerous commuinities living together in harmony, which was thought to be imposssible.

Any one (from other parts of India) will find difference betweenm other parts of Kerala when they reach Mattancherry and FortKochi area, as they could sew a diiferent type of living. People are jovial, busy are so on.

Our ministers should do their best to maintain the heritage of Mattancherry which has many houses are localities which are seen to be under poor condition.

Mattancherry is in itself a mini India.


With Regards,

Vivek