Kollam Railway Station Building Plan Revised Again Mid-Construction; Commuter Hardship to Continue

Kollam: Passengers at Kollam Junction Railway Station are likely to face prolonged inconvenience after Southern Railway General Manager R N Singh directed changes to the design of the new terminal building currently under construction.

During his visit to Kollam on Saturday, Singh instructed officials to retain the existing foot overbridge connecting the platforms from the station's main entrance while completing the terminal building. The decision requires the terminal's design to be redrawn and fresh technical approvals to be obtained, along with clearances from multiple levels of the Railway administration. The process is expected to delay the project by several months.

Passengers are already facing considerable hardship because of the ongoing construction. There had earlier been demands to retain the recently built foot overbridge, which had been constructed at a cost of several crore rupees, while carrying out the station redevelopment. However, the original design of the new terminal did not incorporate that demand. The latest revision, the third change to the project's design, is being seen as the result of inadequate long-term planning by the authorities, further delaying the redevelopment.

The ₹361-crore station redevelopment project was most recently scheduled for completion in January this year. More than five months after that deadline, the Railways has stated that only 53% of the construction has been completed. With another redesign now required, railway authorities have no estimate of when the terminal building will be finished. Construction activity, which had progressed slowly for months, had recently gathered pace ahead of the Southern Railway General Manager's visit.

Passengers continue to face severe inconvenience at the station while waiting for the redevelopment to be completed. There is little space to move around on the platforms, seating facilities are inadequate, and several platforms remain damaged and without proper roofing, leaving passengers exposed during rain. Ticketing has also become difficult, with long queues at the temporary ticket counter housed in a sheet-roofed structure that becomes extremely hot during the day. The number of ticket counters has been reduced to one, and the station's main entrance has been closed.

Construction has been completed for the multi-level parking complex, the Railway Protection Force (RPF) building, the Railway Police building, and the parcel office. However, work on the main station building, which will house the Station Master's office, station manager's office and ticket counters, is now expected to face further delays. The building is planned to have a ground floor and three additional floors.

Construction of the air concourse, foot overbridge and platform infrastructure also remains incomplete. The air concourse is being built over a length of 135 metres and a width of 36 metres to connect the station's two terminal buildings.