Rail Budget 2013: Take escalators at Bangalore, YPR

BANGALORE: Raghavan R, 60, has two bags and has to negotiate the stairs to head to the platform where his train has already chugged in. “It's not easy climbing so many steps,” he said, rushing to catch his train on Tuesday at the City railway station.
If all goes well, senior citizens like Raghavan can breathe easy soon. The station will be equipped with escalators , and commissioning works are currently under way for the escalators .
“The escalators will be on platform 1, the subway and platform 5, and will be operational within the next three months. It will also connect platform 1 and 2 via the subway. Another escalator will be placed on platform 5 of the Yeshwantpur railway station within the same time period ,” said AK Agarwal, divisional railway manager, South Western Railways.
At present, the city railway station provides electric vehicles (carts) for the elderly and disabled who can opt for a drop either from the platform to the entrance of the station or vice-versa . The service comes free of charge. Those travelling on the electric carts have to cross the tracks to move between platforms.
Byappanahalli railway station was to become an international station as a budget commitment of 2010 but on the ground, you can see no developments , excepting a foot overbridge to connect the Metro and railway stations. Platform 1 of KR Puram station is not used for passenger trains for over a decade and the KR Puram-Kolar line is waiting for upgradation, but a Rs 14-crore project for the development of city stations is awaiting the Railway Board's clearance. We invested about Rs 10 crore on pit lines for maintenance of the coaches and work has been completed. But there are no plans to modernize the station, said Anil K Agarwal, divisional railway manager, South Western Railways.
Budget 2013 > Rail Budget 2013 > Economic Survey 2013