Some major stations of Chennai Metro Rail will get breastfeeding rooms in a few weeks. The facility was opened at the airport station on Tuesday. Chennai Central, Thirumangalam, Alandur and Egmore will have it in the coming weeks.
According to officials of Chennai Metro Rail Limited, these rooms will be located in the concourse of the stations. At the airport station, the room is air-conditioned and equipped with a cot, a table for changing diaper and a charging point.
“The stations are seeing close to 1.7 lakh passengers, on an average, during the weekdays in the last few weeks, and the number is only going to go up further. We find several mothers with infants in our system; hence, we have decided to have this space for nursing mothers. We chose these stations for a start since they have a high footfall; depending on the response from passengers, we can put up the facility in other stations,” an official said.
Chennai Metro Rail has chosen Chennai Central, Egmore and airport first, because many passengers who use these hubs may want to stop for a while during the journey to feed their children in a comfortable space. At the airport station, the room has been created at a cost of ₹1 lakh.
Kochi Metro set up breastfeeding pods in its stations a few years ago.
Additional facilities
Chennai Metro Rail has been taking measures to augment parking facilities and utilise the unused spaces to take in more vehicles. At the Koyambedu station, it has created an additional parking area. At the airport station, it has installed one more escalator near the main entrance.
