Title - Vytilla hub to have railway halt soon

Now the intermodal Vytilla Mobility Hub is truly becoming a confluence of all modes of transportation, with a high-level meet chaired by chief minister Oommen Chandy on Thursday, deciding to construct a railway halt at the world-class facility.Recently, a metro station was incorporated in the revised master plan being prepared for the second stage expansion of the hub that also includes a boat jetty and provision for a helipad.“The railway station is being planned at Kaniyampuzha area along the Ernakulam-Kottayam route. The hub society will soon prepare a draft plan for including the rail halt and submit it for the railways’ consideration.It is the railways which has to take a final decision on the state government’s proposal,” hub MD M. Beena said, soon after the meet in the state capital.The governing body meet was held to review the operations of the hub and provide sanction for additional facilities to be incorporated there.The chief minister also directed the hub society to explore the scope of KSRTC operating all its city bus services from there. “We’ve been asked to give a report on how many buses can be deployed for the purpose and whether it will be feasible,” she said.Another major decision was the one with regard to acquisition of land near the exit point towards the Ernakulam-Kottayam route.“The chief minister asked us to take the estimated cost of `12 crore for the purpose out of the current fund and the government would reimburse it on a long term basis,” the official said.