BL reported that the Kochi Corporation has sought the help of the Railways in starting a suburban railway system linking Kochi city with Thrissur, Kottayam and Mattancherry, benefiting short distance commuters. The civic authority had also demanded setting up a new railway station at Nedumbassery for the benefit of passengers who arrive at the Cochin International Airport.

This was highlighted in a memorandum submitted by the City Mayor, Mr Mercy Williams, to the visiting minister of State for Railways, Mr E Ahmed.

Top on the list is a project to build 4 lane overbridges in place of the existing two-lane ones at Ernakulam North and South.

The widening of the 2 bridges that were built in the 1960s is vital to ensure smooth flow of traffic along the Banerjee Road and Sahodaran Ayyapan Road, 2 arterial roads in the city that encounter traffic snarls all through the day.

However, any work on them cannot be carried out unless the long pending overbridges are ready at Pullepady and Atlantis which run parallel to the two bridges.

For this, the Corporation has asked the Railways to speed up work on the two new bridges, apart from the pending ones at Ponnurunni and Pachalam.

Halting stations at the Ponnurunni Marshalling Yard and Edapally too have been mooted, on the lines of the Pettah railway station in Thiruvananthapuram.

(Sourced from Business Line)