Station under par

Station under par
Vijay Times

THE Krishnarajapuram Railway Station, named after Krishnaraja W odeyar who constructed a bridge in the area, is one of the major stations in the City .

T rains bound for Ernakulam, Howrah, Bhubaneshwar , Guwahati, Chennai, Nagercoil, T rivandrum, Coimbatore, Jolarpet, Marikuppam and Muzaffarpur pass through this junction everyday .

The station, which was built in the early 19th century , is about 13 km from the Bangalore City Station.

LACK OF FACILITIES

Though an important junction, the facilities available at the station are not very impressive. While there are two entry points to the station, there are two booking counters near only one of them. Also, there are no automatic platform ticket vending machines available in the station.

Every month, about 75,000 passengers board trains from this junction, which does not have dead end shelters and concrete platforms.

The entrances are in a pathetic condition and are unhygienic. Though space has been allocated for parking two-wheelers, it is not adequate and appears congested.

Space for parking four-wheelers and autos has not been provided.

PASSENGERS UNHAPPY

Commuters also complain about toilets. "There are no proper toilets at this station. W e are not satisfied with the present ticket booking facilities here," lamented Ram Mohan, a resident of K R Puram.

"W ork on constructing a new entrance is on. Once this is completed, the South W estern Railway (SWR) will concentrate on the other problems in the station," Railway sources said.

WORKS UNDER PROGRESS

Speaking to B BV VT T, , SWR divisional railway manager Mahesh K umar said, "As in other stations, infrastructure works in the K R Puram station are under progress. W ork on remodelling the entire station has begun." He informed that platform ticket vending machines and coin vending machines would be made available at the station. An additional booking office would also come up at the main entrance (on the Old Madras Road side).

STATION FACELIFT SOON

"W ork on resurfacing platform 3 and widening and extending platform 4 for 24 coach trains will also begin at the earliest," Kumar added.

The works, including the construction of a Foot-over- Bridge (FoB), dead-end shelters on platform 2 and 3, a high-mast tower for proper lighting and provision of parking space for two-wheelers and autos, have been taken up at an estimated cost of about Rs 1 crore, Kumar informed.

The works are expected to be completed at the earliest, he added.