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 -

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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

I s Kochi Worth Living!!

The Most Favorite Marine Drive at Ernakulam
Status of Kochi!!

In a recent survey conducted by Indicus Analytics across 100 cities in India ranks KOCHI as the best place to live in(though it does not mean it is the best city to earn in) followed by our own Kozhikode at Number 2 and the capital city Trivandrum at Number 4! So that is the reality these days!!Kochi is considered as the safest city in South India, followed by Thiruvananthapuram!

Then this is the article which enunciates about the rankings! http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-2606004,prtpage-1.cms

What I feel is that Kochi is undergoing a mass change and with inauguration of work of International Container Transhipment Terminal at Vallarpadam, kochi and Smart City project at Kochi which placed Kerala in International Cyber map! When Smart City comes to a reality in 2009,the pace and lifestyle of kochi is not going to be the same! Also the IT export from Kochi is expected to be around Rs.10,000 Crores;compared to a dismal Rs.750 Crores from total Kerala,of which 75 % of export is from Technopark, Thiruvananthapuram!! Now the scenario is going to be different!

See this what the New York Times have to say about Kochi!!
http://travel.nytimes.com/2007/01/07/travel/07next.html?pagewanted=1

Kochi is already the Commercial Capital Of Kerala and far ahead of any city in the state due to unbelievable developments which had occurred! It is usually said "If anything is happening in Kerala it is in Kochi"! The high rises in Kochi is enough to answer it! In 2009 come to kochi for sure, as it is going to see a dozen of Malls at least as the work is in progress for all of those! Already there is one mall in Kochi called the Bay Pride Mall (But without a cine complex)! Although Kochi is not familiar with Mall set up, it has seen many shopping complexes like the most famous GCDA shopping complex, Penta menaka in Shanmugham road and such other complexes in Kaloor and MG road!!

A new International Cricket stadium has been proposed to come up in Kochi which will be owned by Kerala Cricket Association!Also Kochi can boast of having the only stadium with synthetic track at Maharaja's Stadium!

Apart from the IT parks at smart city many others are there to come up like by CIAL, Shobha Group, Muthoot Group etc! So the private players are into it!!

All these factors have lead Kochi to be called as sought in destination! The foreign tourists flowing to kochi is an example of how famous Kochi is across the globe and the cruise ships arriving at Kochi strengthens the fact! KOCHI PORT IS THE NUMBER 1 PORT IN INDIA IN TERMS OF CRUISE SHIPS ARRIVAL SURPASSING THE DOYEN MUMBAI!!