City Railway Station to get spruced up second entrance

City Railway Station to get spruced up second entrance
New Indian Express

BANGALORE: The Railways are all set to begin the second phase of revamping works on the City Railway Station, which will include long-pending improvements to the second entrance.

A major portion of the Rs. 4-crore fund sanctioned for the station facelift will go towards construction of a multi-storeyed building near this entrance for passenger comfort.

``Right now, the second entrance behind main station is hardly developed. There is no waiting area for passengers who come early for trains on platforms 8, 9 and 10. Many important trains including Rajdhani and Shatabdi arrive on these platforms, so such facilities are a must,'' divisional railway manager Mahesh Kumar told this website's newspaper.

The new building will be similar to the main one with concourse area, waiting lounge, circulating area and booking counters. The old railway shed beside platform 8 will be demolished to make way for the new building. ``The designs have been prepared, we will call for tenders within the next few days.'' It is expected to be complete within a year.

Tenders have already been called for the other renovation works in the area. Additional platform shelters will be put up, along with digital display boards for train arrival, departure and coach guidance, similar to those at Yeshwantpur and Cantonment stations.

Passengers will also find it easier to move from platform to entrance: The foot over bridge from platforms 8, 9 and 10 will be widened and designed to have more landing area. Improvement works will also be undertaken on the subway connecting platforms to each other and to the main entrance.

Meanwhile, the first phase of the City station renovation is almost complete and the revamped station will be inaugurated before May. Since the sanction was given in July 2004, Railways have worked on improvement of concourse area, platform surface and circulating area. It has also added more booking windows and electronic platform ticket vending machines.

FIRST PHASE OF REVAMPING WORKS IN CITY STATION

(To be completed by May 2005)

* Surface improvement of platforms 1, 7 and 8 * Improvement of concourse and circulating area * Four additional booking windows * Four additional platform ticket vending machine * Repainting station building * Toll free 139 hotlines for railway enquiry within station premises * Chairs in the lobby area * Digital information display boards * International standard sign boards * Landscaping works in front of the main building * Two additional pay-and-use toilets

SECOND PHASE OF REVAMPING WORKS IN CITY STATION

(To begin in May 2005)

* New multi-storeyed building near second entrance, with concourse, circulating area and booking counters * Additional platform shelters * Widening foot over bridges connecting platforms 8, 9 and 10 * Providing more landing area for foot over bridges * Improvement of subway * Coach guidance boards