Thiruvananthapuram Central railway station

The Madras–Quilon line was extended to the capital of the Princely State of Travancore, Thiruvananthapuram, and was opened on 4 January 1918. The line then terminated at Chackai, which was the trading centre of Thiruvananthapuram then. M. E. Watts, Dewan of the erstwhile Travancore, took the initiative to extend the railway line to the heart of the city. The terminus was shifted to its current location Thiruvananthapuram Central Thampanoor in 1931. The Thiruvananthapuram Central station building was built during the reign of Sethu Lakshmi Bayi, the Maharani of Travancore, and inaugurated on the 4 November 1931. No bricks were used for the construction of this station building; it was built completely with rock masonry.[3] Thiruvananthapuram was a branch line station but the Maharani built it at par with their counterparts in the major cities of India. The station was built to handle two departures per day in 1931 and had only one platform in the beginning. The platform with a single line continued till the 70s. The extended platform continued to receive and send trains as a metre-gauge line until gauge conversion. The platform could accommodate two trains at a time in that single-line platform.

This station has 5 platforms to handle long and short-distance trains. The Thiruvananthapuram railway station has two entrances. The main entrance is opposite Central bus station Thiruvananthapuram and the western entrance is on Power House road. The train care centre functions adjacent to the western side entrance. Nemom and Kochuveli railway stations are announced in the railway budget as satellite terminals to Thiruvananthapuram Central. Kochuveli satellite terminal has started functioning with trains originating from here. There is a proposal to add two more platforms once Nemom and Kochuveli stations are operational with terminal facilities.

Thiruvananthapuram Central is well equipped with modern security gadgets, and is the first station in the state to install video surveillance. The Networked electronic surveillance system is installed in this Central Station by Railway Protection Force (RPF) for improving the security and for monitoring the movement of passengers arriving at the station.[4]

It was announced in the railway budget to convert Thiruvananthapuram Central railway station to world-class standards. The foundation stone for the expansion and modernization of the station was laid by former Union Minister for Railways, Lalu Prasad in December 2006. Tenders have been invited for carrying out feasibility studies for this proposed project. More than ₹1,000 million (US$13 million) is needed for the first phase of this project.[5] A new complex of the railway station will be built with a built-up area of 1,000,000 square feet (93,000 m²). All modern facilities including an office and commercial complex are planned here. The proposal to set up a passenger terminal at Nemom is announced in the rail budget and is yet to begin work. It is estimated that only a consortium would be able to take up the expansion project of Thiruvananthapuram Central, since the project is a massive one.[6] Feasibility study for Chennai–Bangalore–Thiruvananthapuram high-speed rail corridor ongoing and is being planned along with other few corridors in the country.

Landmark train services that originates or terminates from Thiruvananthapuram Central are:

• A shunting engine trailed through at point number 57A near Route Relay Interlocking cabin and damaged the point and signal gears in Thiruvananthapuram Central yard. No casualties.[7]

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  Thiruvananthapuram Central railway station
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• Kazhakuttam
• Kochuveli
• Nemom
• Thiruvananthapuram
• Southern Railway zone

• Indian Railways

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