City Rly. Station craving for attention

By Anil Sastry

BANGALORE, MAY 7. If the image of a city depends on the infrastructure and travel amenities it has, Bangalore can boast of being well connected by road, rail and air to other cities and towns.

However, the glaring lack of amenities and the unhygienic atmosphere prevailing at the City Railway Station may make a visitor to Bangalore ponder over whether he has indeed arrived in the ``Garden City''.

Situated in the heart of the City, the railway station caters to an average of 90,000 passengers a day travelling in 57 pairs of trains. It craves for the attention of the authorities concerned, as well as awareness among the people, as maintenance of any railway station also depends on cooperation from the public.

The authorities need to pay attention to long queues of passengers waiting to purchase ``current tickets'' as well as reservation tickets. The number of ticket counters is insufficient, and people are made to wait for hours together, especially during the peak seasons. Mr. Anantram, a commuter, feels that the authorities should have set up booking counters destination-wise, instead of general counters, to avoid long queues. This has been done in many major railway stations, he says.

The problem is worse at the current ticket counters as people throng the few such counters whenever a train comes to the platform. Mr. Ramesh, a commuter, suggests that tickets be issued onboard trains, by the travelling ticket examiners (ticket collectors) during the peak hours, at least for the Mysore and Chennai sectors.

The conditions are bad inside the railway station where a foul smell pervades. Passengers litter the place by throwing empty plastic containers and newspapers. The ``request'' by the authorities not to use toilets in the compartments is ignored. As a result, water from the toilets stagnate near the rails (the drains are choked by plastic containers and garbage). A similar situation prevails inside the pedestrian subway from Platform No. 1. The steps leading to the subway are slippery, posing a danger.

However, the authorities at the railway station claim that they have been doing their best to provide amenities and keep the station clean. They say regular cleaning is undertaken, and an average of six to seven tonnes of garbage are removed. The people should be aware of their responsibilities in maintaining the place clean, they point out.

About the long queues at current ticket counters, the authorities say that the problem is due to ``grouping up''

of trains between 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. when a number of trains arrive and leave at the same time.

They say more counters have been opened at the Oakalipura side of the railway station to ease congestion. There are plans to construct a building for setting up 15 more advance booking counters in the area now set apart for motorcycle parking. Multi- storey parking will be introduced after the completion of the building, they add.

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