HUBBALLI: A path from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) to the railway ministry to put in escalators at only huge stations with a minimal footfall of 1 lakh passengers consistent with day has left many passengers fearful.
Passengers say South Western Railway (SWR) has only one station - Bengaluru City- the place the footfall crosses one lakh an afternoon. The Hubballi station, the headquarters of SWR, may be deprived of this facility as the present ones are below restore and may not be reinstalled, going by the PMO’s order. Even Mysuru and Yeshwantpur stations too also are expected to be deprived of escalators, that are useful for aged, bodily challenged, pregnant ladies and the general public.
Earlier Railways had introduced it might set up about 2,500 escalators around the country at stations with reasonable footfalls of 25,000 an afternoon and annual earnings ranging between Rs eight crore and Rs 60 crore. The new order will mean many stations will not get escalators.
The Hubballi station had reasonable of 17,636 footfalls in 2012-13 and it's 6.89 million consistent with annum in 2017-18.
Speaking to TOI, Uttam Sathiya, spokesman, Indian Travellers Association, seen that escalator in the Hubballi station has been functioning sporadically. “It was once running for a few months after inauguration in November 2016. Later it was once switched on only during a selected time. Now we have not seen it functioning time and again,” he added.
Expressing concern over the brand new decision on escalators, he demanded that escalator be retained in Hubballi as it's the zonal headquarter of SWR. “The station will have to not lose an escalator just because its footfall is lesser that one lakh an afternoon. There will have to be an exception for zonal headquarters in the new norms,” he opined.
Mahendra Singhi, former member, Zonal Railway Users Consultative Committee, and a railway activist, mentioned if Hubballi loses the escalator, it’s another setback for North Karnataka, specifically Hubballi, which was once recently demoted to Non-Suburban Group (NSG)-Three from previous group-A. “The railway division is behaving like a company corporate and taking a look at earnings and footfall for all facilities. It is forgetting its social duties. If earnings and footfall is their main motto, they will have to claim officially that it is a non-public corporate,”he mentioned.
Ashok Malipatil, a widespread traveller between Hubballi and Haveri, mentioned that he had once asked officials about defunct escalators at Hubballi station. “They mentioned passengers in Bengaluru and Mysuru are aware of how you can use escalators but people in north Karnataka are not that much familiar with such modern facilities. Such perspective of officials is pushing the Hubballi station towards regress,” he mentioned.
Mysuru and Yeshwantpur to lose out?
As consistent with SWR’s web site, 10 escalators are functioning below SWR limits. Yeshwantpur had reasonable 86,000 footfalls an afternoon while Mysuru had 19,016 in 2012-13. “The footfall would possibly have greater at Yeshwantpur but Mysuru can’t reach get to one lakh in the near future,” mentioned an reliable.
Passengers say South Western Railway (SWR) has only one station - Bengaluru City- the place the footfall crosses one lakh an afternoon. The Hubballi station, the headquarters of SWR, may be deprived of this facility as the present ones are below restore and may not be reinstalled, going by the PMO’s order. Even Mysuru and Yeshwantpur stations too also are expected to be deprived of escalators, that are useful for aged, bodily challenged, pregnant ladies and the general public.
Earlier Railways had introduced it might set up about 2,500 escalators around the country at stations with reasonable footfalls of 25,000 an afternoon and annual earnings ranging between Rs eight crore and Rs 60 crore. The new order will mean many stations will not get escalators.
The Hubballi station had reasonable of 17,636 footfalls in 2012-13 and it's 6.89 million consistent with annum in 2017-18.
Speaking to TOI, Uttam Sathiya, spokesman, Indian Travellers Association, seen that escalator in the Hubballi station has been functioning sporadically. “It was once running for a few months after inauguration in November 2016. Later it was once switched on only during a selected time. Now we have not seen it functioning time and again,” he added.
Expressing concern over the brand new decision on escalators, he demanded that escalator be retained in Hubballi as it's the zonal headquarter of SWR. “The station will have to not lose an escalator just because its footfall is lesser that one lakh an afternoon. There will have to be an exception for zonal headquarters in the new norms,” he opined.
Mahendra Singhi, former member, Zonal Railway Users Consultative Committee, and a railway activist, mentioned if Hubballi loses the escalator, it’s another setback for North Karnataka, specifically Hubballi, which was once recently demoted to Non-Suburban Group (NSG)-Three from previous group-A. “The railway division is behaving like a company corporate and taking a look at earnings and footfall for all facilities. It is forgetting its social duties. If earnings and footfall is their main motto, they will have to claim officially that it is a non-public corporate,”he mentioned.
Ashok Malipatil, a widespread traveller between Hubballi and Haveri, mentioned that he had once asked officials about defunct escalators at Hubballi station. “They mentioned passengers in Bengaluru and Mysuru are aware of how you can use escalators but people in north Karnataka are not that much familiar with such modern facilities. Such perspective of officials is pushing the Hubballi station towards regress,” he mentioned.
Mysuru and Yeshwantpur to lose out?
As consistent with SWR’s web site, 10 escalators are functioning below SWR limits. Yeshwantpur had reasonable 86,000 footfalls an afternoon while Mysuru had 19,016 in 2012-13. “The footfall would possibly have greater at Yeshwantpur but Mysuru can’t reach get to one lakh in the near future,” mentioned an reliable.
PMO’s order on escalators in railway stations is a shocker
![PMO’s order on escalators in railway stations is a shocker]()
Reviewed by Kailash
on
June 19, 2018
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