Kochi: In a significant development for air travellers, the Central Railway Board has officially granted approval for the construction of a railway station at Nedumbassery, adjacent to Cochin International Airport. Officially known as Cochin Airport Station, it will transform a long-held ambition of airport passengers into a reality, promising seamless rail-air connectivity. 

The approval was announced by the Minister of State for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying and Minority Affairs, George Kurian, through his social media handles. The approval, communicated in a letter from the Railway Board to the General Manager of Southern Railway on Wednesday, sanctions a "passenger halt at Cochin Airport Station between Angamaly For Kalady (AKF) and Chovvara (CWR) stations under Thiruvananthapuram Division." 

Kurian said that Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw assured the procedures for the new station would be expedited. The groundwork for the location and other technical details was personally overseen by Vaishnaw during a window-trailing inspection last year, an event also attended by Kurian.

The new station will serve as a crucial stop on the railway network, directly linking the rail system to the Cochin International Airport. It will provide a highly convenient and efficient mode of transport for travellers, allowing them to directly switch between train and flight, bypassing road traffic congestion. 

The project has been a longstanding demand of various political parties. Currently, the nearest railway stations to Nedumbassery are Aluva and Angamaly, which are inconvenient for passengers as they have to either depend on feeder buses or taxis.