BENGALURU: With the Metro station opening last year, the Krishnarajapuram railway station has emerged as a crucial station for passengers to alight midway and reach their homes. But the station lacks many basic amenities, making it a miserable experience for passengers. The Railways stresses that improvements are in the offing.
The station has four platforms and an average of 20,000 passengers and the general public make use of the station on a daily basis.
Passengers using the station are quite upset over the situation here. Among them is Pranav Balakrishnan, an electronics engineer at a private firm, who travels to Chennai once a month.
He told TNIE, “The chaos begins right at the entrance to the station on the Old Madras Road. The entry is like a hole in a fence as the area is completely taken over by autos. One needs to somehow enter the station. Buses are unable to stop here and go a bit farther. Public dash across the road from the KR Pura Metro station to the railway station with the Foot Over Bridge getting built.”
When one enters the station, PF 4 is not connected to 2 and 3 by escalators. “Those with heavy luggage or senior citizens really struggle to change platforms,” he said. The platforms by themselves are narrow.
The Passenger Information System is dominated by advertisements with train arrivals or departures listed for just a few minutes. “Anyone in a hurry to reach a train can only view ads,” Balakrishnan added.
Dr AS Ramaswamy said he uses this station almost daily. “It is a punishment for the elderly or women with kids to carry luggage through the narrow steps. If two or three trains arrive, it is pure chaos with a stampede waiting to happen. RPF is of absolutely no help,” he charged.
Additional Divisional Railway Manager Parikshit Mohanpuria told TNIE that many improvements are in the offing at the station. “The Constructions Division is carrying out quadrupling between Bengaluru Cantonment and Whitefield. The yard remodelling is happening. “When the yard is remodelled, the platform will be widened at the ends. At present, it begins at 12 metre and tapers down to 8 metres towards the end.”
A dedicated passenger information board will come up shortly, while provisions for escalators are being planned. “More Railway Protection Force personnel will also be deployed,” Mohanpuria added.