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

METRO RAIL KOCHI - LATEST NEWS & PROPOSED STOPS.

Kochi got the best New Year gift that it could ever wish for- the state of the art METRO RAIL in the model of the Delhi Metro!

The Kerala Cabinet has approved the Rs 3000 crore Kochi Metro Rail project and sent it to the Centre for verification on January 01, 2007.

However with the commissioning of Metro rail, Kochi is poised to make a big leap to join the celebrity league of big cities such as Delhi or Bangalore.(0)

Thus the project will be executed by DMRC and not on the BOT(Built-On -Transfer) basis and it will be a joint venture project of state and centre(00)

The State Government has given the green signal to go ahead with the ambitious Metro project on a total budget outlay of 3084 Crores. 20% of this will be borne by the Central Government and 15% (~ Rs.450 crores)by the state government. The rest of the funds will be mobilized through loans from the Japanese bank of JBIC.(1)

Delhi Metro Rail Corporation will be overseeing the project right from the procurement of land to the commissioning of the project and the work on this project is expected to be completed within 3 years. Metro rail extends from Kalamassery in Aluva to Petta in Tripunithura spanning a total distance of 25 kms(1*). In the later stages it might be extended to NEDUMBASSERY AIRPORT AREA AND FORTKOCHI TOWN!(2)

Earlier DMRC had conducted a feasibility study for Metro rail in Kochi and Trivandrum. But the report suggested to built Metro in Kochi and said it is not suitable for the capital.(3)

Metro Rail Not Feasible for Trivandrum!!(typical Trivandrum road shown here)

The Peak Hour Peak Direction Trips (PHPDT) in Trivandrum is too low and even in the year 2030 the PHPDT rates will be 5485. Since this level of PHPD T can be easily handled with bus traffic, metro services cannot be justified for t he capital. What is more interesting is that even in the year 2030 LRTS is not justified in Thiruvananthapuram as it will be an unnecessary financial burden on the city(4).

Land Acquisition for Kochi Metro:

The District Collector of Ernakulam A.P.M Mohammed Hanish said that the land acquisition will be completed within seven months from now. About 15 hectares will have to be acquired for which around Rs. 100 crores will be required considering high land prices in Kochi. (5)

Thus Kochi is all set to be a real Mega City and it will stretch up to Thrissur in North and Cherthala to the South(6). The problem Kochi facing is that the City limits have not been expanded by the Government, even when the real city area is far more wider than what is today. After that the land availability will increase. The present city limits was craeted in 1967 and after that it was not expanded, thus according to the Statistics Kochi is only the Second Largest City in Kerala.

But the reality is that Kochi is the Largest City in Kerala in terms of area and population and Kochi Metro rail will indeed give a new face to Kochi from its traditional world famous Chinese Fishing Nets and Backwaters etc.

PROPOSED STOPS FOR KOCHI METRO RAIL ARE AS FOLLOWS:

Aluva, Pulinchode, Companypady, Ambattukavu, Muttom, Apollo Tyres, St.Mary's Church, Kalamassery, Pathady palam, Edappally Toll Junction, Edappally, Palarivattom, International stadium, Kaloor, Lissie Junction, Madhava Pharmacy, Maharaja's Ground, Ernakulam South junction, GCDA Junction, Fathima Church, Elumkulam, Vyttilla, Thykoodam, Poonithura and Pettah.

Thus there will be a station after each kilometer.

Speed of Kochi Metro Train!:

The proposed speed for Kochi metro train is 36 Km per hour, which is almost equal to the city buses which have a limit of 35 km per hour.


Waiting for the latest news regarding DMRC visit for deciding links and approval by the Central overnment which was passed by state government.


IN HIM...

VIVEK SHENOY P
JANUARY 08, 2008
2200 hrs....

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!!