With the commissioning of the an escalator on Platform No. 4 and 5, the seventh in the station and of two lifts, one each on Platform No 1 and 10 in the second week of August, Secunderabad has emerged as the first railway station in the country to be equipped with escalators on all its 10 platforms and lifts on the main platforms at the station’s both entrances.
The South Central Railway has spent Rs 6.60 crore on the seven escalators, civil engineering works, electrical power supply and other arrangements.
The two lifts have cost the SCR about Rs 98 lakh. Each lift has the capacity to carry 20 persons at a time. Each escalator can carry 180 persons per minute. It is estimated that around 43,000 passengers use escalators on any given day.
Escalators and lifts not only facilitate easy and quick movement of passengers but have also proven to be a boon to the elderly, sick and physically challenged.