Title - Plan for modern rail station in Kozhikode taking shape

KOZHIKODE: One of the city's long-cherished dream — a world-class railway station — took one step closer to reality on Wednesday. At a meeting held here, officials have prepared a draft master plan for the project. It envisages transforming the existing railway station into a modern integrated transportation hub by making the station a converging point for the proposed monorail.

The next meeting, which will be attended by principal advisor of DMRC E Sreedharan, will finalize the master plan. The project, which aims to provide a new look to the station in sync with the unique historical and cultural legacy of the city, will have facilities like shopping mall and food plazas.

Though the proposal was announced in 2010 budget, we have not been able to implement it. Discussions are under way to implement it in the lines of Cochin International Airport Limited ( CIAL) and the Delhi airport projects," said M K Raghavan, MP. He said once the plan is finalized it will be sent for approval to the Railway Board.

As part of the project, West Hill and Feroke railway stations will be upgraded as satellite stations to reduce crowding and traffic snarls near the Kozhikode station. An additional footbridge at the south end of the station will be built and linked to the proposed monorail. The MP said rail underpasses at Vadakkumpad and Elathur, and the railway overbridge at Pavangad will be set up using state government funds.

Divisional railway manager Piyush Aggarwal, who attended the meeting along with Raghavan and district collector K V Mohankumar, said the contract for setting up a lift at the station has already been awarded. "The contracts for an escalator and roofing for platform 1 and 4 will be finalized soon," he said. The meeting was also attended by divisional senior engineer Nallamuthu Manikyam, NATPAC former director N Vijayakumar and architect R K Ramesh.