New look Kanpur Central to be ready soon

KANPUR: Mamata Banerjee, true to her penchant for being unconventional, assumed the charge of railway ministry in BC Roy Institute auditorium at Sealdah railway station instead of Rail Bhawan in Delhi. Inspired by their maverick captain, her sentinels here at Kanpur Central too promise changes in look and functionality of railway station in days to come.
Kanpur Central, the largest station of NCR (North Central Railway) zone is undergoing a major renovation with series of works going in and around its premises.All the nine platforms are being extended and existing water booths, urinals and toilets are being overhauled. The surface of premise is being improved and granite tiles are being provided, wherever required.
On the issue of reducing customer troubles, M K Sinha, chief traffic manager, Kanpur Central said, "From the passenger's perspective, we have realised that one needs hassle-free service on three fronts. First is fast and flawless ticket-cum-reservation process, second is to reduce waiting time on stations and third is on board availability of seats inside the trains."
A decision in this context was taken by railway authorities on Tuesday to ask daily commuters who board train in between major stations to pay fixed fare to avoid any inconvenience to reserved passengers. Now a daily passenger alighting from Kanpur on a train going towards Delhi is bound to buy a ticket up to Aligarh and in case he fails to do so, he will have to cough up a penalty of Rs 250. The punctuality of trains is too being improved.
To improve the hygiene of the station, a two-week long novel initiative to clean Kanpur Central railway station has been taken by a city based NGO in joint collaboration with railway authorities. Talking to TOI, Anil Gupta, member of Parivartan, NGO said, "Kanpur railway station draws its identity as home to one of the most filthiest railway tracks and unhygienic railway platforms in country. We in bringing this cleaning initiative are not doing it for just sake of it but we seek a sustainable positive change in the look of railway station."
We also aim to increase revenue through all possible means like by allowing advertisements on train coaches and charging fees for photography on railway premises, Sinha added. In peak season, like during summer holidays, station earns Rs 40 lakh per day. Overall too, railways has shown remarkable turnaround from being a white elephant to Rs 25,000 crore profit-making PSU.
To weed out mafia elements from tender process, we have devised innovative ways of filing tenders through various ways. Now one can file tender through courier, through internet and other process as well," Sinha added.