Railway stations across Kerala to get libraries

Kannur: In an innovative move to make train journeys more meaningful, railway stations are set to open libraries for passengers. The first such ‘Rail Library’ has already been launched at Nagpur Railway Station under the Central Railway Zone. The initiative allows passengers to pick up any book free of cost and read while they wait or travel. With the tagline ‘A Journey on Every Page’, the project aims to promote reading habits and make the travel experience more enjoyable for everyone.

The Indian Railways plans to expand this facility to other zones soon.

Interestingly, before the pandemic, many railway stations across the country had bookstalls that have remained shut ever since. Except for the bookstall at Aluva Railway Station, none of the other stalls have reopened. The steep hike in license fees for running these stalls has brought financial constraints for many operators to continue.

Despite this, the demand for newspapers and periodicals among passengers during waiting hours remains high. With the closure of bookstalls, travellers have lost access to these reading materials. Major stations in Kerala, including Palakkad, Kannur, Shoranur, and Kasaragod, once had active bookstalls. Renowned publisher Higginbothams, which has been running book stalls at railway stations since 1944, had stalls at seven major stations in the state.

Though multi-purpose stalls (MPS) on railway platforms are allowed to sell books, magazines, and newspapers along with drinking water and packed snacks, many of these stalls do not stock them.