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Railway ticket booth to be opened by railgenie on 20 August, 2012 - 12:02 PM
avatar railgenie Railway ticket booth to be opened on 20 August, 2012 - 12:02 PM

A non-reserved ticket issuing facility of the Railways will be inaugurated at the Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences (AIMS) at Edappally on Monday, taking their total number in the city to seven. Thiruvananthapuram Divisional Railway Manager Rajesh Agarwal will throw open the counter to members of the public.The aim is to reduce the queue at the ticket counters in Kochi’s two main stations — Ernakulam Junction and Ernakulam Town.The Ernakulam area manager of the Railways P.L. Ashok Kumar said that passengers would be able to purchase unreserved tickets from the counter. Daily commuters will benefit the most from the new facility.The counter will be similar to the one at the High Court of Kerala.“It will be manned by staff nominated by AIMS, who have been trained by the Railways. The counter’s operator will get Re.1 per ticket as remuneration. Around 600 people, on an average, depend on each of the other such counters in the city. Any establishment which wants to open such a counter in its premises can approach us and we will provide all guidance,” Mr. Kumar said.The ticket counter at the Civil Station in Kakkanad has the added advantage that tickets can be reserved from there. Around 1,000 people use the facility each day. Each Lok Sabha MP is eligible to get a reservation system in his constituency, while each Rajya Sabha MP can suggest a counter anywhere in the State.

A ticket counter at the Vyttilla mobility hub using the quota of Charles Diaz, MP, is long-pending.

“The infrastructure for this is not yet ready and Kerala Tourism has promised to install the amenities at the hub,” Mr. Diaz said.

Need for overbridge

“We hope that the Thiruvananthapuram DRM who will visit AIMS will also see for himself the necessity for an overbridge to link the southern side of the Edappally Railway station with the road on the northern side that leads to the hospital,” said an office bearer of the Ernakulam District Residents Associations’ Apex Council (EDRAAC).

“A policeman was the last victim fatally knocked down by a train as he was crossing the tracks to reach Amrita Hospital. Dozens of people have suffered injuries after trains hit them. They have to cross seven tracks to reach the other side,” he said.

Though the government approved the project to build a 254-m-long, two-lane overbridge over a year ago, work on this has not begun.