Thiruvalla: Moving around on railway premises is tedious for both passengers and other public arriving to receive or see off travellers. In order to improve public convenience the Indian Railways has been spearheading a major overhaul of railway stations. The installation of escalators replacing staircases is going on at several stations across the country. Next week two escalators will be unveiled at the Thiruvalla railway station in Kerala.
The work is in the final stages and one of the moving staircases will be situated near the station manager’s office on platform number one. To reach platform number two, travellers can use the escalator, walk on the foot-over bridge and go down the stairs on the opposite side.
The other escalator will be on platform number two.
Each escalator costs Rs 95 lakh and the money for two was set aside from the Local Area Development Fund of parliamentarians Anto Antony and former deputy chairman of Rajya Sabha P J Kurien.
The foot-over bridge connecting the two escalators on two platforms was constructed at a cost of Rs 1.65 crore with funds from the Railway Ministry.
Two flights of steps, parallel to the escalators, are also put in place for the convenience of the passengers. There will only be up escalators and people have to climb down the stairs from the foot over bridge.
Steps are being taken to install an elevator adjacent to the foot-over bridge on the southern side of the station.
The Thiruvalla railway station, which is located in the Pathanamthitta district of Kerala, comes under the Thiruvanathapuram division of the Southern Railway.
