Major Problems dog Cantonment railway station

Major Problems dog Cantonment railway station
Vijay Times

HE Cantonment Railway Station, built at a time when the British ruled India, is one of the oldest stations in the City .

Popularly known as the ’Cant’ station, the junction is located six kilometres away from the Bangalore City railway station and is used by scores of passengers travelling to different parts of the country .

The station, which was once well maintained, is now gradually losing its sheen, thanks to poor maintenance structure and services.

As many as 90 to 98 trains including those Guwahati, T rivandrum, Salem, Chennai and Secundarabad pass through this junction, making it of the most important in the country .

Close to 80 lakh people travel with unreser from this junction in a month while about 3.6 cror ple travel with reserved tickets. Realising the importance of the junction, th W estern Railway (SWR) is all set to make major terminal. The Cant station will soon b starting point for various new trains to be announ the next budget.

Despite the problems at the station, a majo passengers prefer to either board or alight from t this station as it is well connected. However , co say that the impressive structure of the st be highlighted, which the authorities have failed S St ta at ti io on n l lo oo ok ks s The station has two platforms, one for inco and the other for outgoing trains. There ar points to the station and ironically , both of the same problems. A Au ut to o, , p pl la at tf fo or rm m t ti Commuters say that hiring an auto from the major problem. Despite pre-paid auto counters muters are often taken for a ride as auto twice or thrice the original fare for a journey in morning hours.

Though there are counters to issue tickets entrance, there is just one ticket vending passengers who enter the station through the new e point. The machine is not user-friendly and many f difficult to operate. Passengers, who do not have cannot make use of the machine and hence cannot en the station. "Friends/relatives, who come here, often end up qu ing with the authorities as they can’t get platfor This is a serious problem which has to be looked i the authorities," said a shopkeeper at the station es. The station undoubtedly needs a special issue tickets and a coin vending machine to problem. E En nq qu ui ir ry y 1 13 39 9 n no ot t b "Despite the SWR setting up a separate rail system number (139), people, who are unaware facility , call up station masters to enquire abou separate enquiry clerk should be appointed a tion," sources said .

Another major problem here is dealing with emergency cases.

Several calls pertaining to heart attacks and othe related problems of passengers are made to seeking the services of an ambulance. H o we way ambulances are not available on most occasions Though there are three hospitals that are situated in a kilometre from the station, the railwa find it difficult to arrange for an ambulance.

"T axis are pro vided at such times. A pro standby ambulance is a must," sources said. has only one toilet. W Wo or rk ks s u un nd de er r p pr ro og gr Speaking to B BV VT T , SWR Divisional Railway Manager Mahesh K umar said infrastructure development wor two phases, were under progress.

"The I phase works have begun. This will include p sion of two coin vending machines, mobile platform et kiosks and electronic platform ticket vending s he added. A Ad dd di it ti io on na al l l li in ne e "In a bid to make it a major terminal, we are plan an additional line adjacent to platform 2. W widen and extend platform 1. W e propose to Diesel Electrical M ultiple U nit services fr for which we are awaiting the availability coaches," K umar informed. M Mo or re e p pa ar rk ki in ng g s sp pa ac "W orks under Phase II are expected to be next year . An additional platform line and a trai nance line will be announced shortly . W e a pro vide more ticket counters and parking space at entrance," K umar added. T Ta al lk ks s w wi it th h p po ol li ic ce Discussions would be held with the Go vernment Rai P olice (GRP) to tackle the problems posed by auto at the station, he added.