The much-awaited Diesel Electric Multiple Unit (DEMU) service between Ernakulam Junction railway station and Cochin Harbour Terminus (CHTS) station in Willingdon Island will be launched on Wednesday.

The three-coach DEMU will conduct two services in the morning and two in the evening from Monday to Friday on an experimental basis for a month.

The train will have a stop at the Mattancherry Halt station in between, and the ticket rate will be ₹10. The train will be regularised based on passenger patronage.

A test run will be held along the eight-km line on Tuesday, to ensure coordination of signalling and telecommunication systems.

DEMU will start from CHTS at 8 a.m. on weekdays beginning Wednesday and reach Mattancherry Halt at 8.10 a.m. It will reach Ernakulam Junction at 8.40 a.m. In the return direction, the train will depart from Ernakulam Junction at 9 a.m., reach Mattancherry Halt at 9.14 a.m. and CHTS by 9.40 a.m.

In the evening, it will start from CHTS at 5 p.m., reach Mattancherry Halt at 5.10 p.m. and Ernakulam Junction by 5.40 p.m.

In the return direction, the train will leave Ernakulam Junction at 6.20 p.m., reach Mattancherry Halt at 6.34 p.m. and CHTS by 7 p.m.

The Harbour Terminus station was renovated over a year ago, while laying of new tracks and upgradation of signals and telecommunication systems were taken up later.

The demand for stoppage of the train at Perumanoor station in Thevara will be considered on the basis of a letter which is expected to be submitted by peoples representatives, a railway official said. For the record, a team led by Hibi Eden, MLA, had visited the station a week ago to inspect the amenities there. He also promised to allot money from his MLA fund to upgrade infrastructure at the station.

The 8-km journey takes 40 minutes since there are two level-crossings at Atlantis and Vathuruthy. There are also speed curbs all along the route.

DEMU will have to commute at 15 kmph speed on the Mattancherry Halt-CHTS stretch since it is a railway yard, a senior railway official said. A decision is awaited on the arrival of a steam locomotive to operate a heritage-train service from Harbour Terminus, he added.

Traffic snarl

In the meantime, there is concern about a possible traffic snarl on either side of Vathuruthy the level-crossing when the railway gate is closed four times during peak hours each weekday. While Roads and Bridges Development Corporation of Kerala (RBDCK) has readied a proposal for an overbridge, the Navy is yet to accord sanction for the plan since its airport is located close by. This has given impetus to the demand for a subway.

Train services from the city to CHTS was halted in 2004 after a dredger deployed by the Cochin Port Trust rammed the Venduruthy bridge built by the British. Both rail and road overbridges were rebuilt after the incident.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Kochi / by Special Correspondent / Kochi – September 25th, 2018