Secunderabad railway station’s new escalators lift the aged out of misery

Similar escalators are being planned at Kachedguda and a feasibility study conducted for the station at Nampally

The installation of escalators at the Secunderabad Railway Station provides much-needed relief for the aged and the infirm.

Passengers at Secunderabad railway station can now heave a sigh of relief. The cumbersome process of climbing staircases with luggage to reach different platforms will now be a thing of the past as authorities have commissioned five escalators at the Secunderabad railway station.

In a phased manner, these escalators were put to use since last month on platform no. 1, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 after the SCR technical teams certified them as ‘ready to use’. In all, seven escalators are planned at the station and work pertaining to the installation of two escalators on platforms 2, 3, 4 and 5 are under way.

The escalator on platforms 2 and 3 will be ready by this month-end and the ones on platform no.4 and 5 would be commissioned by June, said an SCR spokesperson.

Every day, over 250 trains arrive and depart from Secunderabad station transporting close to 1.40 lakh passengers. Provision for lifts and escalators has been a long-pending demand from passengers, especially the elderly and differently-abled.

These escalators were installed at a cost of about Rs. 90 lakh each and they move at a speed of 0.5 meters per second. This apart, work on the installation of two lifts at platforms 1 and 10 are also in progress, he said. These 20-member capacity lifts are being installed at a cost of Rs.45 lakh each and will be operational by June.

Similar facilities are also being planned at Kacheguda railway station, which registers a daily passenger footfall of about 36,000. Three escalators are being installed at platforms 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. Of these, the one on platform 1 is likely be ready by July. The two lifts at platforms 1 and 2 would also be ready by July, he assured.

On the delay in installing escalators at Hyderabad railway station, which has a passenger footfall of over 40,000 per day, he said a technical and feasibility study was being conducted.

There are a few narrow foot-over-bridges in the station and authorities were working on how to take up the project. This study will be completed very shortly and based on the study report, they will take a final decision, he added.