Passengers cry for better amenities at railway station

Surat: Despite Surat railway station generating revenue to the tune of over Rs250 crore per annum, Western Railway (WR) has failed to provide basic facilities and infrastructure to the passengers.

In letter to divisional railway manager (DRM), Western Railway, former member of passenger service committee (PSC), Ministry of Railways, Rakesh Shah has stated that the western part of the railway station is highly populated and most of the passengers are staying there. However, the Indian Railways has only 12 ticketing counters where long queues are witnessed at any given point of time. There is a need to create more than five additional ticketing counters to facilitate the passengers.

Shah has stated that the ticket reservation centres in the city, including the one at Athwalines are vulnerable and always occupied by the touts. In order to ensure safety of the passengers, the WR must install CCTV cameras to curb illegal activities. Also, there is a need to install CCTV cameras at the parcel office at the railway station to prevent illegal activities.

Tens of hundreds of passengers are suffering due to non-availability of coach indicators at platform number 4. When the train chugs on to the station, the passengers have no other option but to run on the platform to locate their respective coaches.

Rakesh Shah told TOI, “When the Centre and state governments have been seriously working on water conservation project, tens of thousands of litres of water is wasted to wash the tracks. I have suggested that the WR should install pressure reducer on the tip of the pipes to stop water wastage.”


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