Thiruvananthapuram Central railway station

Thiruvananthapuram Central
തിരുവനന്തപുരം സെൻട്രൽ
Regional rail and Light rail station

Thiruvananthapuram Central Station main building.
Location Thampanoor, Thiruvananthapuram, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala
India
Coordinates 8°29′15″N 76°57′07″E / 8.4874°N 76.952°E / 8.4874; 76.952Coordinates: 8°29′15″N 76°57′07″E / 8.4874°N 76.952°E / 8.4874; 76.952
Elevation 6.740 metres (22.11 ft)
Line(s) Thiruvananthapuram – Kollam
Thiruvananthapuram – Nagercoil
Platforms 5
Connections Taxi Stand,Pre paid Auto service, Thiruvananthapuram Central bus station of the KSRTC
Construction
Structure type Standard (on ground station)
Parking Available
Disabled access
Other information
Status Functioning
Station code TVC
Zone(s) Southern Railway zone
Division(s) Thiruvananthapuram railway division
History
Opened November 4, 1931 (1931-11-04)
Electrified Yes
Traffic
Passengers 38,918 per day[1]

Thiruvananthapuram Central is the main Railway station in the city of Thiruvananthapuram (formerly Trivandrum) in the Indian state of Kerala. It is the largest railway station in Kerala in terms of passenger movement and an important rail hub in Southern Railway.[2] It is one of profitable stations under Southern Railway. The building of the railway station is one of the landmarks of Thiruvananthapuram. Thiruvananthapuram Central is also a terminating point for the proposed Chennai - Bengaluru - Thiruvananthapuram High Speed Rail (HSR) corridor and the proposed Thiruvananthapuram - Mangalore High Speed Rail corridor. The railway station is located opposite to Central Bus Station Thiruvananthapuram at Thampanoor.

Trains from here connect the city of Thiruvananthapuram to major cities of India. This station is also noted for a whole range of amenities available within the premises. The station has book-shops, restaurants, accommodation and Internet browsing centers. A second satellite station was opened in 2005 at Kochuveli called the Kochuveli Railway Station, near the International Airport. Thiruvananthapuram is the first major city from south along the longest train routes in India, the Kanyakumari-Thiruvananthapuram-Dibrugarh Vivek Express route and the Kanyakumari-Thiruvananthapuram-Jammu Tawi-SVDK Himsagar Express route. A second terminal (south Terminal) was opened in 2004 to handle passenger traffic and later a West Terminal in 2007. To reduce traffic, the Central Railway Station has 18 railway tracks.[3] Number of long service trains are starts/ends in Thiruvananthapuram Central.


History

Thiruvananthapuram station
Interior of the station
Trains in Thiruvananthapuram Central Station
Train care centre
Shunting Yard of Thiruvananthapuram Central

The Madras-Quilon line was extended to the capital of the Princely State of Travancore, Thiruvananthapuram and was opened on 4 January 1918. The line then terminated at Chakka, which was the trading centre of Thiruvananthapuram then. M.E. Watts, Dewan of the erstwhile Travancore, took the initiative to extend the railway line to the heart of the city. The terminus was shifted to current location Thiruvananthapuram Central Thampanoor on 1931. The Thiruvananthapuram Central station building was built during the reign of Sethu Lakshmi Bayi, the Maharani of Travancore, and inaugurated on 4 November 1931. No bricks were used for the construction of this station building; it was built completely with rock masonry.[4] Thiruvananthapuram was a branch line station but the Maharani built it at par with the counterparts in the major cities of India.The station was built to handle two departures per day in 1931 and had only one platform in the beginning.

Layout

This station has 5 platforms to handle long and short distance trains and a proposal to build additional 11 platforms in pipeline.Then the number of platforms will increase to 16. The Thiruvananthapuram railway station has two entrances. The main entrance is opposite to Central Bus Station Thiruvananthapuram and eastern entrance is on Power House road.The train care centre functions adjacent to eastern side entrance.Nemom and Kochuveli Railway stations are announced in railway budget as satellite terminals to Thiruvananthapuram Central. Kochuveli satellite terminal has started functioning with trains originating from here.

Facilities

Thiruvananthapuram Central is well equipped with modern security gadgets, and is the first station in the state to install video surveillance. The Networked electronic surveillance system is installed in this Central Station by Railway Protection Force (RPF) for improving the security and for monitoring the movement of passengers arriving at the station.[5]

The station handles over 300,000 passengers daily.[6]

Future expansion plans

It was announced in railway budget to convert Thiruvananthapuram Central railway station into world-class standards. The foundation stone for expansion and modernisation of station was laid by Former Union Minister for Railways, Lalu Prasad in December 2006. Tenders have been invited for carrying out feasibility studies for this proposed project. More than ₹1,000 million (US$15 million) is needed for first phase of this project.[7]

A new complex of railway station will be built with a built-up area of 1,000,000 square feet (93,000 m2). All modern facilities including an office and commercial complex is planned here. The proposal to set up a passenger terminal at Nemom is announced in rail budget and yet to begin work. It is estimated that only a consortium would be able to take up expansion project of Thiruvananthapuram Central, since the project is a massive one.[8]

Feasibility study for Chennai-Bangalore-Thiruvananthapuram High speed rail corridor ongoing and is being planned along with other few corridors in country.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Station Re-development Data - Trivandrum Central(TVC)". Central Railway Zone - Indian Railways. Retrieved 1 February 2016.
  2. ↑ "Thiruvananthapuram Central to be made a world-class station". The Hindu. 2007-03-07. Retrieved 25 January 2011.
  3. ↑ "Revised parking rates at railway stations come into effect". The New Indian Express. Thiruvananthapuram: Express Publications. 2 July 2012. Retrieved 25 Nov 2012.
  4. ↑ Quilon – Thiruvananthapuram Central Metre Gauge Line. Irfca.org. Retrieved on 2011-11-10.
  5. ↑ Video surveillance system at Central. Hindu.com (2006-08-24). Retrieved on 2011-11-10.
  6. ↑ More passenger facilities at Thiruvananthapuram Central. Hindu businessline News 15 January 2007
  7. ↑ Rs.100 crores for modernization. Hinduonnet.com (2006-11-08). Retrieved on 2011-11-10.
  8. ↑ Trivandrum Central to be made a world-class station. Hindu.com (2007-03-07). Retrieved on 2011-11-10.
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