Rail coach restaurant will add a new attraction near Mattancherry Halt station

A railway coach is being renovated at a restaurant near the Mattancherry Halt railway station at Willingdon Island in Kochi. | Photo credit: THULASI KAKKAT

Since passenger train services to Cochin Harbor Terminus were stopped many years ago, the Railways is preparing an air-conditioned ‘Rail Coach Restaurant’ (RCR) near Mattancherry Halt on the way to refurbish the train car.

The facility is part of efforts to improve passenger amenities and use of railroad assets. Mattancherry Halt Station, which has heritage value, was chosen considering its proximity to Mattancherry and Fort Kochi, which attract tens of thousands of foreign and domestic tourists every year. Renovation work on the AC rail coach restaurant is expected to be completed this month, after which the coach and the renovated area in front of it will be open to guests. The area around the RCR will also be landscaped and landscaped to provide a grass dining area for guests, railway sources said.

The RCR is being prepared near the bus stand in front of the station where trains used to stop until the Ernakulam Junction and Town railway stations were built in the 1960s. The station has five tracks, while Cochin Harbor Terminus – another historic station located just before the other end of Willingdon Island – has two tracks and a platform.

Heritage Station

“Apart from Mattancherry Halt, an RCR is being prepared at Nagercoil, the only other station under Thiruvananthapuram railway division. The location of RCR at Mattancherry Halt, which has heritage value, is unique as most of the RCRs across India are located at stations in cities and towns. They are being prepared and converted to model railway (ROMT) will be put back into service, will be operational once the contract period is over, before its launch, the railways would approve menu.

Although regular passenger train services to Mattancherry Halt and Cochin Harbor Terminus were stopped, goods trains and a rare tourist train were running at Mattancherry Halt, leaving plenty of space on unused tracks.

Vathuruthy Bridge

The proposal to extend several passenger trains now terminating at Ernakulam Junction to Cochin Harbor Terminus has not materialized yet due to issues related to completion of alignment/bridging project on route at Vathuruthy level crossing. This was followed by concerns about the bridge affecting the safe movement of aircraft from the adjacent naval airfield, as well as obstacles to land acquisition.

Railway sources said the alternative proposal to build an underpass at Vathuruthy did not find many takers due to waterlogging concerns.

Published – 07 Oct 2026 07:45 IST