The information centre at the Ernakulam Junction Station which is currently under renovation will be opened by the end of this month.
According to officials with the Railways, the renovation work which began in December is poised to be completed in a couple of days. This will, hopefully, bring down the misery of the public who are otherwise forced to wait in long queues to get information from the railway counter about the arrival and departure of trains.
Ernakulam Railway Area Manager P L Ashok Kumar said the existing information centre is being demolished to give more space for the new centre which is coming up just behind the old one.
The seating arrangement of the information centre staff will be changed it make it more passenger-friendly. Also, there will be two separate boards that will display information about the trains that arrive and depart from the station towards the northern districts and the southern districts. Boards indicating the position of the trains in the station will also be provided. The railway officials said the existing information counter did not provide sufficient space creating difficulty for the railway staff to function. “Also, the passengers were put in huge difficulty because the location of the centre was confined to a crammed space near Platform 1,” the officials said. Passengers have welcomed the decision to renovate the information counter. “Finally the Railways has acted in favour of the public here considering the heavy influx of passengers at the station. Also, passengers are sometimes subject to the Railways staff’s ire because of frequent questions,” said Paul J, a passenger.
Meanwhile, Railways points out that the passengers are also unable to make proper use of the information received from the display board. Segregating the boards will be the best solution, the officials said.
Meanwhile, plans are also afoot to renovate the entrance of the station. The parcel centre will be shifted from its current location.