Kalamassery Railway Station through the Years

Ashraf Gents Hostel

Key facts

The Shoranur–Cochin railway, on which Kalamassery lies, opened to goods traffic on 2 June 1902 and to general traffic on 16 July 1902; it was owned by the Cochin government and worked by the South Indian Railway (Wikipedia).
The line was converted from metre gauge to broad gauge on 24 October 1935, doubled between Shoranur and Ernakulam by 1986, and electrified by 1996 (Wikipedia).
In November 2016 Deccan Chronicle reported that only eight trains, all passenger services, halted at Kalamassery daily and that monthly earnings averaged about ₹1 lakh.
In August 2018 Southern Railway suspended services on the Ernakulam–Shoranur section during the Kerala floods (Wikipedia, 2018 Kerala floods).
On OpenStreetMap the station is about 3.2 km west of the NAD Road signal in a straight line.

Kalamassery metro station above NH 544. Photo: Gnoeee / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

A halt on a 1902 line

The railway through Kalamassery is older than almost everything else in the town. According to Wikipedia's article on the Shoranur–Cochin Harbour section, the line was built by the government of the princely state of Cochin and worked by the South Indian Railway Company. Goods trains began running on 2 June 1902, and the line opened to general traffic on 16 July 1902. It was built to metre gauge.

Kalamassery appears on the line's route diagram between Aluva and Edappally, as a station in its own right. What we could not find, in Wikipedia, railway records available online or news archives, is the date on which a stop was first opened at Kalamassery. The town's factories grew up around the line from the 1940s onwards (see our industrial history of Kalamassery), but that does not tell us when passengers could first board here.

Timeline

Date	What happened	Source
2 June 1902	Shoranur–Cochin line opens to goods traffic	Wikipedia
16 July 1902	Line opens to general traffic; owned by Cochin government, worked by South Indian Railway	Wikipedia
24 October 1935	Line converted from metre gauge to broad gauge (Wikipedia also says the work ran between 1930 and 1935)	Wikipedia
1986	Doubling of the Shoranur–Ernakulam line completed	Wikipedia
1996	Electrification of the line completed	Wikipedia
22 November 2016	Deccan Chronicle reports eight passenger halts a day and the municipality's request for express halts and a bus stop at the NAD Road entrance	Deccan Chronicle
19 June 2017	Kalamassery metro station opens to the public on the first Kochi Metro stretch	Wikipedia
August 2018	Southern Railway suspends Ernakulam–Shoranur services during the floods	Wikipedia
December 2022	Amrit Bharat Station Scheme introduced; we found no listing of Kalamassery under it	Lok Sabha answers; our search

Gauge, double track and wires

Three engineering changes shaped what the station is today. The line was converted to broad gauge on 24 October 1935. The Shoranur–Ernakulam stretch was doubled by 1986, and electrification was completed in 1996. Each step raised the number of trains passing Kalamassery, but most of the new long-distance services ran straight through to Ernakulam or Aluva, which grew into the main stations of the area.

2016: a neglected station and a facelift plan

The clearest snapshot of the station in modern times comes from a Deccan Chronicle report of 22 November 2016. It described Kalamassery as neglected for decades and little used. Only eight trains, all passenger services, halted each day; even at peak hours only a handful of commuters boarded, and monthly earnings averaged about ₹1 lakh. Commuters, the paper said, were put off by the lack of last-mile transport, poor approach roads, missing street lights and the absence of any express stop.

The Kalamassery municipality had plans to change that. Its chairperson, Jessy Peter, said the council would seek halts for at least two express trains at the morning and evening peaks, a request taken to the railways through the then MP, K. V. Thomas, and that it would build a proper approach road to the main entrance with street lights. A bus stop at the station's NAD Road entrance was to be proposed to the council, because the nearest stop, Premier Junction, was about 1.5 km away. P. K. Sadasivan Nair of a local residents' association called the lack of connection to the main entrance 'the main issue'.

We did not find later reports confirming that the express halts were granted. Present-day timetables (see our practical Kalamassery railway station guide) show the station served mainly by passenger and MEMU trains.

The metro next door and other changes

On 19 June 2017 the Kochi Metro's Kalamassery station opened to the public, above NH 544 (the story is in our page on the metro reaching Kalamassery in 2017). From then on, most daily commuters from the town to Ernakulam used the metro or buses rather than the railway halt. In August 2018, during the floods, Southern Railway suspended services on the Ernakulam–Shoranur section. During the statewide lockdown announced on 23 March 2020, public transport was shut down altogether.

The Amrit Bharat Station Scheme, introduced in December 2022 to redevelop 1,309 stations, has covered Ernakulam Junction. We found no official list or news report naming Kalamassery under the scheme as of October 2026, so we do not claim an upgrade. We also found no published passenger-count series for the station, so we cannot describe trends beyond the 2016 snapshot.

If you know of a dated record of when Kalamassery halt opened, or of later upgrades, the right sources would be Southern Railway's Thiruvananthapuram division notices or Indian Railways gazette entries.

Why this history matters near the NAD signal

For anyone at the NAD Road signal the station is about 3.2 km away in a straight line, at the far end of NAD Road, so most residents reach trains at Aluva or Ernakulam instead (see Aluva station to Kalamassery). Ashraf Gents Hostel, a men-only hostel/PG at Ashraf house on NAD Road, can be reached from both; monthly and daily stays are quoted on +91 90746 23855. For other ways around town see getting around Kalamassery; more local history is in the Kalamassery history archive.

Frequently asked questions

When did the railway line through Kalamassery open?

The Shoranur–Cochin line opened to goods traffic on 2 June 1902 and to general traffic on 16 July 1902.

When did Kalamassery station itself open?

We could not find a reliable date. The station appears on the line's route diagram, but no source we checked records its opening.

Do express trains stop at Kalamassery?

In 2016 only passenger trains stopped there, and the municipality asked for express halts. We found no report that they were granted; check current timetables.

Is Kalamassery station part of the Amrit Bharat scheme?

We found no official listing of Kalamassery under the scheme as of October 2026. Ernakulam Junction is being redeveloped under it.

How far is the station from the NAD Road signal?

About 3.2 km west in a straight line on OpenStreetMap.

Sources

Facts about Ashraf Gents Hostel come from the hostel’s own profile and photos; rates are indicative and confirmed on the call. Last reviewed 8 October 2026. How we write these guides: editorial notes. Map embeds © Google.

Cite this guide: Ashraf Gents Hostel. “Kalamassery Railway Station through the Years.” Published 8 October 2026. https://ashrafgentspghostel.adserr.com/kalamassery-railway-station-history/ Plain-text (Markdown) version · quoting with a link back is welcome.