Kochi: Despite laying foundation stone way back in 2011, a project to set up a railway halt station at Nedumbassery, expected to provide hundreds of air passengers from various parts of the state easy accessibility to the airport, still remains on paper. “The construction of the Halt station has been pending only on account of the delay in getting the LC gate No 64 at km 80/80-90 (along the Athani-Dedumbassery route) closed. Earlier, local residents had objected to closing of the LC Gate citing the same would restrict their movement to both directions. But now a Railway Overbridge has come there. We request the state government to reconsider the project and gave the permission to close the LC gate,” a senior railway official said.
As per the rule, a prior permission has to be obtained from the district collector before closing down Level Crossing gates. “There is not sufficient international flights from Calicut, forcing considerable number of air passengers from northern parts of the state to chart air journeys from Nedumbassery. Currently all important trains pass through Nedumbassery but have no halt there. We request for quick completion of the project so that hundreds of air commuters get the benefit daily,” said C.E. Chakkunny, Working Chairman, Confederation of All India Rail Users Association.
The association submitted a memorandum to chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan last week requesting action to allot necessary clearance to railways for further implementation of the project. The then Union minister of state for railways E Ahamed laid the foundation stone in December 2010. However, it remained a non-starter for over three years with the railways citing ”fund shortage” as a major hurdle. Finally the railway board cleared the project in 2014.
