Thiruvananthapuram Central railway station gets all geared up

Thiruvananthapuram: Union minister for railways, Suresh Prabhu, will inaugurate a series of facilities at Thiruvananthapuram Central Railway Station during his day-long visit on Friday. He will inaugurate the facilities at an event to be held at the new parking area of the railway station at 4pm on Friday.

"A foot overbridge, parking area beside the station, kiosks, electronic display boards, escalators and lift are the facilities to be inaugurated by the Union minister," said Thiruvananthapuram DRM Sunil Bajpai.

The 3,000 sq ft parking area will include a prepaid auto and taxi parking system and premium parking for passengers. Around 50 autos and 30 taxis can be parked simultaneously at the new parking area which will be managed by Kudumbashree. The premium parking area for people awaiting passengers can accommodate about 30 cars.

The foot overbridge on the south side of the railway station connecting all platforms has been constructed with provision for installation of escalators which are yet to be tendered. A total of 13 LED electronic screens, displaying information of train arrival and departure, and 5 inquiry kiosks will be installed at Central Railway Station, Thiruvananthapuram. The screens in various sizes from 8 feet to 30 feet, based on the requirement will be installed at the station entrances, platforms and foot over bridges before inauguration.

He will also inaugurate the construction of the running room near the second entry of the railway station by unveiling the foundation stone. The running room will have 80 beds for drivers and guards.

"The new facilities at Ernakulam and Palakkad railway station will be inaugurated by the Union minister through videoconferencing from Thiruvananthapuram," said senior divisional commercial manager V C Sudheesh.

General manager of Southern Railways Vashisht Johari and chief commercial manager of Southern Railway Ajeet Saxena will also accompany the minister during his visit.

The event will be attended by minister for power Aryadan Mohammed, health minister V S Sivakumar, mayor V K Prasanth and district panchayat president V K Madhu.