Escalators stop operating at Tatanagar railway station

Jamshedpur: The twin escalators have again stopped functioning at Tatanagar railway station. Passengers, especially senior citizens are facing problem these days at the Tatanagar railway station due to non-functional of escalators. The escalators- at platform number 1 and 3- have stopped functioning due to mechanical fault. Elderly passengers are facing tough times due to this.

“Ever since the escalators were established it has never been functioning smoothly. Passengers have no no other option but to climb the stairs with their luggage before reaching platform 3 to catch the train,” said a resident of Bistupur.

Station director at Tatanagar railway station, H K Balmuchu admitted that the escalators were not functioning. ” We have asked the agency which looks after the maintenance work of the escalators to find the fault so that the escalators could be started at the earliest,” he said.

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 Tatanagar railway station is estimated to cost over Rs 1.5 crore.

Platform No. 1 was equipped with an escalator ( or moving stairways ) , a lift and a ramp. Tatanagar, the second busiest station of South Eastern Railway, is 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.

Tatanagar railway station witnesses a daily traffic of over 90- mail, express and passenger trains which either originate from Tatanagar of go via that station. The daily passenger footfall is close to 50,000.