THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In a bid to provide better amenities to the passengers, the Southern Railway has come up with a slew of measures, including setting up more escalators and lifts.
Two escalators (at Thiruvananthapuram and Kottayam) are under trial, and 16 more are in various stages of procurement. Eight escalators at four stations are already operational. The Railways is planning to build a total of 16 lifts in the Thiruvananthapuram division. Apart from the lift which was commissioned at Chengannur earlier, two more are slated to be commissioned at Thiruvananthapuram.
Three foot-over-bridges (FoBs) are planned at Thrissur, Kottayam and at Kollam. Two FoBs have already been built at Thiruvananthapuram and Kochuveli stations, with two more under progress. A platform shelter has been constructed at Punkunnam and another for Edapally has been sanctioned. Besides, a laundry service with two-tonne capacity per day will be set up at Ernakulam in this fiscal to cater to the linen requirement of Ernakulam-based trains. As many as 10 new retiring rooms and stalls will be opened in a month.
In an effort to revamp the waiting lounge at Chengannur, an initiative has been launched in collaboration with distributors of Cafe Coffee Day. The waiting room ‘Sabari Lounge’ has facilities, including Wi-Fi. Similar lounges shall shortly be opened at other stations.
Railway has launched a fortnightly nation-wide customer facilitation till June 9. Special drives and campaigns will be held during the period. Special attention will be given to sanitation, punctuality, catering services etc. Apart from it, customer interaction, vigilance checks, special yoga and medical checkup for the staff will also be taken up. Sunil Bajpai, DRM said that Thiruvanananthapuram division has already taken up special cleanliness drive as a part of this and more actions will be taken in the following days.
