Ernakulam Terminus (Station Code:ERG), also called as Ernakulam Goods Station or Ernakulam Old Station, is an abandoned railway station in the

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

n city of

Kochi Kochi (), also known as Cochin ( ) ( the official name until 1996) is a major port city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is part of the district of Ernakulam in the state of K ...

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

. It is one of the first railway station in Kochi, built by the

Maharaja Mahārāja (; also spelled Maharajah, Maharaj) is a Sanskrit title for a "great ruler", "great king" or " high king". A few ruled states informally called empires, including ruler raja Sri Gupta, founder of the ancient Indian Gupta Empire, an ...

Rama Varma XV Sir Sri Rama Varma XV (1852–1932), known as the Rajarshi of Cochin and as Abdicated Highness, was the ruler of the Kingdom of Cochin from 1895 to 1914. Rama Varma abdicated the throne in 1914. He died in January 1932 at his summer reside ...

. The first passenger trains started service from the station on 16 July 1902. The station lost its prominence with the commissioning of

Ernakulam Junction railway station Ernakulam Junction railway station (also known as Ernakulam South, code: ERS) is the biggest railway station in the city of Kochi in Kerala, India. Controlling 376 train routes at a time, it is the busiest railway junction station in South Indi ...

in 1932 and

Cochin Harbour Terminus Cochin Harbour Terminus (CHTS) is one of the railway stations in the city of Kochi, in the state of Kerala, India. It is located on the Willingdon Island. The Cochin Harbour Terminus is the principal station providing rail connectivity to the ...

in 1943. Though a few passenger-trains used to halt at the old station till the 1960s, it was ignored with the passage of time and was abandoned in 1990. Many historical figures like

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

Swami Vivekananda Swami Vivekananda (; ; 12 January 1863 – 4 July 1902), born Narendranath Datta (), was an Indian Hindu monk, philosopher, author, religious teacher, and the chief disciple of the Indian mystic Ramakrishna. He was a key figure in the intro ...

and

Rabindranath Tagore Rabindranath Tagore (; bn, রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer and painter. He resh ...

have visited Kochi through this station.

History

When the British rejected the demand of Maharaja Rama Varma of

Kochi Kingdom The Kingdom of Cochin, named after its capital in the city of Kochi (Cochin), was a kingdom in the central part of present-day Kerala state. It commenced at the early part of the 12th century and continued to rule until 1949, when monarchy w ...

for a railway line to

, he took up the construction cost himself. The state of Kochi, which had only 2 lakh rupees at that time set aside in its annual budget, undertook this project at a cost of 44 lakh rupees. It is said that the King raised the money for the project by selling the gold foreheads of the Thripunithura Sreepurnathrayisa temple. The King and his wife became the first passengers on the first train service.

, who came to participate in the Vaikom Satyagraha first got off the train here. In 1920, the renowned engineer Robert Bristow, who is known for developing Kochi into a modern port city landed in

for the first time at this station. Despite losing its prominence in the 1930's due to the arrival of

, passenger train services used to halt at the station till 1960. But the renovation of

Ernakulam Town Ernakulam Town (also known as Ernakulam North, code: ERN) is one of the main railway stations in the city of Kochi, Kerala, India. Administration The station is operated by the Southern Railway zone of the Indian Railways and is an 'A� ...

and Ernakulam Junction railway stations along with the construction of

in 1943 gradually led to its complete closure in 1990. In 2001, the government converted the station into a goods shed, but that too was gradually abandoned.

Renovation plans

In 2016, the

Indian Railways Indian Railways (IR) is a statutory body under the ownership of Ministry of Railways, Government of India that operates India's national railway system. It manages the fourth largest national railway system in the world by size, with a tot ...

proposed a ₹ 505 crore development project to preserve the station and its heritage. In the first phase, one and a half crores were sanctioned. Tracks over 100 years old were upgraded with this fund. But after three months, the works were stopped. The ''Ernakulam old railway station preservation committee'' had alleged that someone who want to acquire the 42-acre land where the railway station locates are behind the blocking of the project.

References

{{Trivandrum Railway Division Railway stations in Kochi Thiruvananthapuram railway division Defunct railway stations in India Railway stations opened in 1902 Railway stations closed in 1990

History

Renovation plans

See also

References