The authorities are focussing more on security and hygiene at the city railway station here following the high footfall of passengers in view of Mysore’s status as a major tourism destination.
Officials have been directed to increase passenger amenities with more emphasis on drinking water and toilets and special attention on women.
Chalavadi Narayanaswamy, chairman, Passenger Amenities Committee, told The Hindu that the thrust on security was to ensure smooth conduct of Dasara.
“Metal detectors will be installed at the station while CCTV cameras will be positioned at critical places for round-the-clock monitoring. These facilities will be in place within a week to ensure that security is tightened ahead of Dasara,” Mr. Narayanaswamy said. He apprised himself of passenger amenities and issues pertaining to rail commuters and passengers during a visit here on Thursday.
“Mysore is way ahead compared to other stations and far better with some of the facilities being in excess of the actual requirements. But being a heritage and tourist city, more passengers arrive and depart from here compared to other stations in the division, and it is prudent to have increase the capacity for future,” he added.
Mr. Narayanaswamy said hygiene in catering would be accorded high priority and officials had been instructed to ensure there was no compromise on cleanliness. On enhancing connectivity to different centres, he said the number of passengers and daily commuters had increased significantly and introduction of additional trains would depend on the availability of rakes, platforms and operational feasibility. “There was demand for additional trains across the country, but track capacity constraints are also a limiting factor,” he added.
On the track-doubling between Mysore and Bangalore, Mr. Narayanaswamy said there were some issues related to land acquisition between Mandya and Maddur and he had appealed to the district administration and the State government to expedite the process.
“The work till Mandya is over but there are issues of shifting the Tipu’s armoury at Srirangapatana and acquisition of early 9.7 acres between Mandya and Maddur. Once this was done and the Cauvery bridge completed, then only the rail links will have to be provided as most of the civil and earth works have been done,” Mr. Narayanaswamy said.
The electrification of tracks was taking place concurrently and once completed, the railways could introduce additional train services between Mysore and Bangalore, he added. Mr. Narayanaswamy will soon visit Hassan and other major stations as part of his official tour.
