The Mysuru railway station is set to become the first visually challenged-friendly station in the country.
Rajkumar Lal, Divisional Railway Manager of South Western Railway, Mysuru, said here on Tuesday that navigation maps in Braille would soon be put up at various points on the railway station premises.
The tactile layout maps of the station, with distances in paces to utilities such as toilets, platforms, staircases and washrooms, will be displayed. The platform numbers in Braille will be written on the railings of staircases, a railway official said.
The menu cards at the canteen and the schedule of trains will be made available in Braille, the official said.
A private company sponsoring the project is taking suggestions from representatives of a visually challenged association to implement the facility. The sponsor is considering a proposal to engage non-governmental organisations and volunteers to help the visually challenged, the official said.
These facilities for the visually challenged at the railway station, an official said, are aimed at seamlessly integrating with the Braille-embedded signage being made available in the coaches.
With non-AC conventional coaches manufactured after 2013 coming with Braille-embedded metal signage on berths, toilets, washroom and doors, the introduction of tactile maps of the railway station’s layout will help make the station accessible to the blind, the official added.
While the Braille signage in coaches were announced in the 2013-14 Railway Budget, no railway station in the country has made available tactile maps on the platform, the official added.
