Parliament Question: Redevelopment of Ernakulam Town and Junction Railway Stations

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 569 TO BE ANSWERED ON 22.07.2026 REDEVELOPMENT OF ERNAKULAM TOWN AND JUNCTION RAILWAY STATIONS 569. SHRI HIBI EDEN: Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state: (a) the expected date of completion of the redevelopment works of Town Railway Station and Junction Railway Station, station-wise; (b) whether provisions have been made to meet the needs of special groups including lactating women, differently-abled individuals, transgenders, women, concerning facilities, security and mandatory arrangements and if so, the details thereof; (c) whether there are strategies to address obstacles and ensure the timely completion of the redevelopment projects in Ernakulam Town and Junction Railway Stations with specified quality and if so, the details thereof; (d) whether a comprehensive overview is available for the new facilities planned for Ernakulam Town and Junction, such as the proposed Sky Walks and Multilevel Car Parking; and (e) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor? ANSWER MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW) (a) to (e): Ministry of Railways has identified Ernakulam Town and Ernakulam Junction Railway Station for redevelopment under Amrit Bharat Station Scheme. The progress at Ernakulam Town and Ernakulam Junction stations is given below: At Ernakulam Junction station, the structural works of east terminal building, west terminal building, multi-level car parking and service § Page 1 of 6building have been taken up. The structural works of P-way depot and P- way office has been completed and finishing works taken up. At Ernakulam Town railway station, the structural work of west terminal building- segment 1, multi level car parking, residential tower and foundation for the foot over bridge have been completed. The finishing work of multi level car parking, west terminal building (segment I) and super structure work of foot over bridge was taken up. However, due to slow progress of the work, the contract was terminated and retendering process has been taken up. The redevelopment plans of Ernakulam Town and Ernakulam Junction railway station have provisions for feeding room, Child Help line, health facilitation, security arrangements, toilets etc. There is provision of Multi-Level Car Parking at Ernakulam Junction and Ernakulam Town and Skywalk arrangement from Ernakulam Junction station to Ernakulam South Metro station. Skywalk is planned from Ernakulam Town station to Ernakulam North Road Over Bridge from where access is available to bus stop and Town Hall Metro Station. East Terminal of Ernakulam Junction station is very close to Manorama Bus stand. Above arrangements are considered adequate and effective for passengers coming to Railway station by Metro/Bus/Road Vehicle. Amrit Bharat Station Scheme envisages development of stations on a continuous basis with a long-term approach. It involves preparation of master plans and their implementation in phases to improve the stations of Indian Railways. The master planning, keeping in view the necessity of each station, includes:  Improvement of access to station and circulating areas  Integration of station with both sides of city  Improvement of station building Page 2 of 6 Improvement of waiting halls, toilets, sitting arrangement, water booths  Provision of wider foot over bridge/subway to commensurate with passenger traffic  Provision of lifts/escalators/ramps  Improvement of platform surface/ provision of platform shelter  Provision of kiosks for local products through schemes like ‘One Station One Product’  Parking development  Amenities for Divyangjans  Better passenger information systems  Provision of air concourse, executive lounges, Multimodal integration, landscaping, etc. The scheme also envisages sustainable and environment friendly solutions, provision of ballastless tracks etc. as per necessity, phasing and feasibility and creation of city centre at the station in the long term. So far, 1340 stations have been identified for development under Amrit Bharat Station Scheme, out of which 35 stations including Ernakulam Junction and Ernakulam Town railway stations are located in Kerala. The names of stations identified for development under Amrit Bharat Station Scheme in Kerala are as following: State No. of Names of Stations Stations Kerala 35 Alappuzha , Angadippuram, Angamali For Kaladi, Chalakudi, Changanassery, Chengannur, Chirayinkeezh, Ernakulam, Ernakulam Town, Ettumanur, Ferok, Guruvayur , Kannur, Kasargod, Page 3 of 6Kayankulam Jn, Kollam Jn, Kozhikode, Kuttippuram, Mavelikara, Neyyattinkara , Nilambur Road, Ottappalam, Parappanangadi, Payyanur, Punalur, Shoranur Jn., Thalassery, Thiruvananthapuram Central, Thrisur, Tirur, Tiruvalla, Tripunithura, Vadakara, Varkala Shivagiri, Wadakancheri Completed Stations: Development works at railway stations under Amrit Bharat Station Scheme in Kerala have been taken up at a good pace. The detail of stations where development works are completed in Kerala is as given below: State No. of Name of Stations Stations Kerala 16 Angamaly for Kaladi, Chalakudi, Changanassery, Chirayinkeezh, Ferok, Guruvayur, Kuttippuram, Mavelikara, Nilambur Road, Parappanangadi, Shoranur Jn., Thalassery, Tirur, Tripunithura, Vadakara, Wadakancheri The activities for development at other stations have also been taken up at good pace and progress of some of the stations is as given below:  Kasargod Station: The works of improvements of station building, new entrance porch, improvements of booking office and concourse, improvement of platform surface of platform no. 2 & 3, improvements of circulating area and parking, improvement of waiting hall, toilets, platform shelters, lifts, installation of coach indication board and improvement of amenities for Divyangjan have been completed. The Page 4 of 6works of extension of platform no. 1, 6 m wide foot over bridge, escalator and parking at second entry have been taken up.  Angadippuram station: The works of improvement of station building, new entrance porch, concourse and booking office, platform shelter, improvement of platform surfacing of platform no. 1 & 2, waiting hall, toilet, improvement of circulating area and parking, approach road, installation of coach indication board, train indication board, signages and lifts have been completed. The work of provision of 6 m wide foot over bridge has been taken up.  Payyanur station: The works of raising platform no. 2 & 3, provision of platform shelter, improvement of concourse, booking office, waiting hall, circulating area at second entry, parking, installation of coach indication board and train indication board have been completed. The works of improvement of station building, circulating area at main entry, amenities for Divyangjan, 6 m wide foot over bridge and lifts have been taken up.  Kollam station: The works of service building, multi level car parking and parcel building have been completed. The works of 12 m wide foot over bridge, air concourse, north terminal building, south terminal building and platform upgradation have been taken up. Indian Railways has a well established mechanism to monitor implementation of projects including their reviews, inspection, check for time and cost overruns, quality of works and audits. Monitoring of projects is done at various levels including through dedicated portal of Indian Railways named Indian Railway Project Sanction and Management (IRPSM). Works are carried out adhering to the standards and specifications laid down in various codes and manuals. Inspections/audits/checks are carried Page 5 of 6out from time to time by various agencies/officials/multi-disciplinary teams as per laid down instructions and actions for correction are taken immediately. The issues faced by the executing units are accordingly addressed. This is a continuous and ongoing process. Further, development / redevelopment / upgradation / modernisation of stations on Indian Railways is a continuous and ongoing process and works in this regard are undertaken as per requirement, subject to inter-se priority and availability of funds. Development / redevelopment / upgradation / modernisation of a station is carried out based on category of station/condition/traffic handled etc. Development / Upgradation of stations is complex in nature involving safety of passengers & trains and requires various statutory clearances such as fire clearance, heritage, tree cutting, airport clearance etc. The progress also gets affected due to brownfield related challenges such as shifting of utilities (involving water/sewage lines, optical fibre cables, gas pipe lines, power/signal cables, etc.), infringements, operation of trains without hindering passenger movement, speed restrictions due to works carried out in close proximity of tracks and high voltage power lines, etc. and these factors affect the completion time. ***** Page 6 of 6