Kottayam: The Kottayam Railway Station is all set to get a facelift with the completion of the rail-track doubling work through this route. The station building will be flaunting a touch of indigenous Kerala design once the renovation work gets completed.

The renovation of the station will follow the much-lauded new look of the Thiruvananthapuram Central Station at Thampanoor, which was praised widely for its design and facilities.

The revamp work in Kottayam is expected to be completed within 10 months, according to the Engineering Department of Southern Railway. The Railway authorities assured that care would be taken not to cause difficulties to the passengers during the work. Rs 5.50 crore has allocated for the improvement project.

In the first phase of the renovation, the existing constructions on both sides of the main entrance of the Railway Station will be modernised. The structure will be beautified using terracotta roof tiles and iron rafters. Imported roofing tiles will be used for this purpose, according to the Railway officials.

The walls will be beautified with brick work resembling the designs of the legendary architect late Laurie Baker. The dark colours used for the walls and the station building at present would be changed into lighter shades.

The platform renovation would take place in the second phase, with the existing pathway and gates getting changed. A new entrance to the platform would be built beside the ticket counter and it would commence from the existing corridor leading to the platforms.

The new entrance gate of the station would be from near the parcel counter which is at a lower level.

The Railway also has plans to build a second entrance near the goodshed.

The work of new three-tiered parking facilities has also started, which is expected to be completed within five months.