Four railway stations in the Chennai Beach-Tambaram sector will get centralised ticket counters as part of the measures of Southern Railway to improve commuter convenience.
Nearly a sum of Rs.3 crore will be spent on setting up these counters, said S. Anantha Raman, Divisional Railway Manager.
Speaking after an inspection of the station here on Tuesday, he said that important railway stations such as Tambaram had ticket counters on either side and the suburban EMU commuters did not have to go from one end to the other for purchasing the tickets.
There were, however, many railway stations, including Egmore, with ticket counters on only one side. The plan was to set up ticket counters in such stations at a central location so that commuters could get their tickets and reach the platforms without delay. Such a facility exists at the Nungambakkam station.
Mr. Anantha Raman said that such ticket counters would be created at a cost of Rs. 90 lakh in Mambalam and Rs.60 lakh each in Kodambakkam, Chromepet and Guindy. In addition to this, improvement works would be carried in ticket counters in other stations on the Chennai Beach – Tambaram sector, he added.
During his visit, he interacted with representatives of civic groups and officials of State Highways Department. Mr. Anantha Raman said he received representations about traffic problems and the difficulty in movement of vehicles near the entrance of the railway station after the construction of a road overbridge at Tambaram.
All possible measures to put in a place a system that would ensure free flow of traffic would be initiated, he said. The Divisional Railway Manager also instructed officials not to permit hawkers inside the bus bays of the railway station.
He also appealed to the travelling public to help in keeping railway stations clean. “We have been sensitising commuters and noticed that spitting has come down. We appeal to them not to dump plastic waste on the platforms or on railway tracks,” Mr. Anantha Raman said.
V. Rama Rao and V. Subramani of Traffic and Transportation Forum and K.Sridhar, Assistant Divisional Engineer, Highways (Projects) were also present.
