Kacheguda station on revamp route

Several passenger-friendly amenities installed; more escalators on the way

The Kacheguda railway station has recently got an aesthetic makeover apart from being equipped with passenger-friendly facilities.

Kacheguda Railway Station recently got an aesthetic makeover with the framing of Cheriyal painting covering the booking hall and waiting rooms. Soon, it will be equipped with more escalators in addition to the existing three plus two elevators, South Central Railway (SCR) General Manager Vinod Kumar Yadav said on Monday.

In the past year, several facilities have been provided and improvements made to the existing amenities for passengers at the station built in 1916, once the headquarters of the Nizam’s Guaranteed State Railways and now serving as the Hyderabad division main office.

The GM pointed out that the entire facade conveying the architectural grace of Indian and Gothic styles has been refurbished and several initiatives taken to bring services closer to the scores of citizens using the station. Among these are an app-based cab facility awarded to OLA cabs, a pre-paid auto booth. Other popular mobile apps are ‘NavRaS’ app for facilitating navigation to various passenger facilities on platforms and ‘Rail Station Info’ app to provide complete information about various passenger amenities.

Electronic train information and coach guidance boards at the entrance, platforms and foot-over bridges, touch screen passenger-operated enquiry terminus and automatic ticket vending machines are aiding in providing more comfort to the passenger.

Mr. Yadav said the station, which has earned the recognition as the most energy efficient on Indian Railways, generates 400 KWP electrical energy through solar panels installed on the platforms roofs, resulting in saving of ₹21.66 lakh a year.

Eco-friendly measures

Other special efforts towards eco-friendly measures are provision of bio-toilets, new design pit line for rake maintenance, conversion of food waste into compost for use as fertilizer, etc. As a step towards women empowerment, sanitary napkin vending machine and an incinerator have been installed.

Divisional Railway Manager Arun Kumar Jain has initiated the process of getting the Indian Green Building Council green rating awarded by the Confederation of Indian Industry for the station, the official spokesperson said. The station handles 140 trains, including 81 MMTS suburban services a day. Special trains are run towards Tata Nagar, Kakinada, Visakhapatnam, Bengaluru and Kanpur.