A foot over bridge now connects two additional platforms (PF 4 and 5), pending their formal inauguration, at Mangaluru Central Railway Station in Mangaluru. | Photo Credit: ANIL KUMAR SASTRY
A foot over bridge now connects two additional platforms (PF 4 and 5), pending their formal inauguration, at Mangaluru Central Railway Station in Mangaluru. | Photo Credit: ANIL KUMAR SASTRY
Close on the heels of completing the extension of one foot over bridge (FoB) that connected Platforms 1 to 3 to newly constructed platforms 4-5 at Mangaluru Central Railway Station, the Southern Railway will extend one more FoB to the new platforms soon.
As the newly-constructed additional platforms lack shelters to protect passengers from the rain and the sun, the Palakkad division of Southern Railway will also get platform shelters constructed covering the entire length of the new platforms.
Palakkad Divisional Railway Manager Arun Kumar Chaturvedi told The Hindu that, presently, the FoB near the RMS office has been extended to the new platforms. Another FoB near the parcel office, that is, at the beginning of the station building, would also be extended to PF 4-5 within three months.
Shelters on new platforms in Mangaluru Central Railway Station
The division has finalised the tenders for erecting shelters on the new platforms. Eight platform shelters, each measuring 16 metre in length and 10 metre in width would come up. “Our effort is to get the shelters erected before the monsoon,” the DRM said. These eight shelters would cover about 500 metre length of the platforms.
Inauguration and commissioning of the new platforms, would be done soon, he said but did not specify a time-frame.
New platforms are receiving trains
As the platforms were made functional with the necessary infrastructure, the railways have begun using PFs 4-5 to receive some trains. Departures were not being scheduled in the absence of formal commissioning of the platforms, according to railway officials.
The extended FoB helps alighting passengers reach the main entrance of Mangaluru Central. In the absence of the FoB, passengers had to take a detour till the end of the PFs on either side to reach the main entrance. Alternatively, passengers could exit from the second entry on the Attavar side, that is closer to Attavar Main Road where autorickshaw and city bus facilities are available.
