City Station second entrance to get facelift

City Station second entrance to get facelift
Sunday March 9 2008 10:43 IST

EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE

BANGALORE: The Okalipuram entrance to the City Railway Station will shortly get a major facelift in the form of a new complex with a booking office, stalls, waiting rooms and other passenger amenities. The new building will come up between platforms 7 and 8.

Addressing a press conference in the city on Saturday, South Western Railways General Manager Praveen Kumar said that the facilities offered at the new offices would benefit a large number of night passengers who embark from platforms 7, 8 and 9. Of the five floors planned, initially, two floors will be constructed in the first phase. Tenders will shortly be invited for design and structure and expressions of interest for the construction of the building is expected to be floated by end of April. The existing ticketing counters will not be disturbed during the construction, but will eventually be dismantled after the opening of the new building, according to Divisional Railway Manager, Mahesh Mangal.

Each floor will consist roughly of about 1,000-1,200 sq mts of space and the construction is expected to be completed by next financial year, he added. A foot-overbridge will also be constructed at the place and the initial estimated cost of the project is about Rs 1 crore.

NEW LIFTS: Earlier, Praveen Kumar inaugurated two lifts installed at platforms 1 and platform 7 and 8 at the City stations.

The lifts connect the platform to the subway and have been constructed for use by the elderly and those who find the steps difficult to negotiate. The lifts have the capacity to take 15 people and have been designed to take overloads.