Jamshedpur, Aug. 28 : A1-category Tatanagar railway station on Monday added another unique facility. One of the two escalators started functioning at the station on a trial basis.
On day one passengers used the moving stair on platform no. 3 while the other escalator on platform no. 1 is expected to begin operational around mid-September before the Durga Puja.
Anand Lawrence, assistant divisional electrical engineer at the Tatanagar railway station, who is monitoring the project said that it is their ambitious project and they are happy to note the successful start.
The escalator started operation on a trial basis. Some work is still left including testing of the sensor. The escalator will be operated between 10 am to 5 pm till its formal inauguration.
The passenger-friendly project, which would help elderly, had missed three deadlines in the past. The installation work of the escalator began in July last year and was expected to complete in December that year.
The escalators have been imported from China. The escalator project at Tatanagasr railway station is estimated to cost over Rs 1.5 crore.
” We were trying to complete the project bit it has got delayed due to some reasons. We have set a new deadline of September end as it was impossible to complete the work before that. We are confident to make the entire projects functional by then,� said an official.
Platform No. 1 will be equipped with an escalator ( or moving stairways ) , a lift and a ramp. Platform Nos. 2 and 3 will have ramps while the rest two platforms — 4 and 5 will have the facility of a lift and a staircase.
The total project is estimated to cost over Rs 2 crore. Tatanagar, the second busiest station of South Eastern Railway, will be the second to boast the escalator facility.
Howrah station in Bengal, the busiest on the South Eastern Railway network, has escalators connecting its old and new complexes. The facility was introduced in 2011.