Vizag Railway station back on track

Damaged roofs of eight platforms at the railway station were replaced with new and improved ones, which, it is claimed, can withstand high wind speeds.

Visakhapatnam Railway Station gets new roofs after the old ones were damaged during Hudhud last year. —photo: C.V. Subrahmanyam

The biggest railway station in East Coast Railway (ECoR) — Visakhapatnam Junction — has bounced back and emerged stronger a year after very severe cyclone Hudhud caused major devastation to it in October last.

The loss sustained by the Waltair Division of ECoR was estimated at Rs.71 crore.

Damaged roofs of eight platforms at the railway station were replaced with new and improved ones, which, it is claimed, can withstand high wind speeds.

Though work on replacement of damaged coach indication and platform indication boards on a couple of platforms is pending, better material has been received and work is expected to be completed soon. The damaged digital electronic clock at the main entrance is yet to be replaced.

Most of the old railway quarters in various colonies, which were badly damaged, were repaired. But, there were some that needed to be condemned as they turned out to be unsafe for human habitation.

The roofs of the Diesel Loco Shed (DLS) and Electric Loco Shed (ELS), and the New Coaching Complex were also badly damaged.

Tracks, traction works, and other facilities in various sections of the division had been restored on a war-footing in a record time.

“The roofs and glass works at the railway station have been restored. We have now used better roofing material that can withstand high wind speeds. Most of the damaged railway quarters have been restored. Some of the old quarters, which have been damaged beyond repair and are in a dilapidated condition, have been officially condemned,” Senior Divisional Commercial Manager M. Yelvender Yadav said when contacted on Friday.

When his attention was drawn to the delay in the installation of coach and platform indication boards on various platforms, he said: “The platforms are about half-a-km-long each and replacement of the boards involves a lot of cabling work and synchronisation of the boards. We have received better coach and train indication display boards, and the installation work will be completed soon. Indication boards have been installed at Duvvada Railway Station also.”

Pat on the back

East Coast Railway Shramik Union (ECoRSU) general secretary Ch. Ganhi said that the Waltair Division had received Rs.5 lakh in appreciation of the work done by the staff in extending Hudhud relief and restoration operation.