New port railway station inaugurated

After a long gap of two years, the new port railway station was inaugurated here on Monday. Interestingly, the movement of trains from the station began from Sunday midnight without any formal inauguration function. The construction of the new port station at Sambamurthy Nagar was completed in December, 2009 and the formal inauguration was postponed thrice owing to the last minute changes in the programmes of the elected representatives.Being constructed at a cost of Rs. 6.5 crore, the station had all facilities for the commuters. The idea was to inaugurate the station in the presence of the Chief Minister, Union Minister of State for Railways and the local MP, also the Union Minister of State for Defecse, M.M. Pallam Raju. It is learnt that as per the guidelines of the Railway Board, the station must be opened within two years after completion of the construction. A couple of weeks ago, the railway authorities hurriedly announced the inaugural of the station and got it postponed in the last minute. At last, the station commenced functioning, putting an end to the long wait of commuters.However, many commuters were unaware of the opening of the new station. They came to know about it only after visiting the old station, where they saw posters pasted on the walls about the shifting of the railway station. This was due to the absence of proper publicity about the opening of the new station. The new station premises, that wore a deserted look till Sunday, witnessed huge activity with the movement of trains and the general public as well. The ticket counters that wore a deserted look in the morning witnessed long queues in front of them by the evening hours.