City railway station to get makeover

BATHINDA: Bathinda railway station is all set for the upgradationcummodernisation as it has been selected in 64 railway stations which will be upgraded by the Union Railway Ministry

Updated At : 05:58 AM Mar 08, 2015 IST

Sukhmeet Bhasin

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, March 7

Bathinda railway station is all set for the upgradation-cum-modernisation as it has been selected in 64 railway stations which will be upgraded by the Union Railway Ministry.

A senior official of the railway ministry has asked the local officials to send the estimate and list of the work which are to be under this up gradation plan. The modern state of art facilities would be provided to the passengers in the project.

Officials had already sent the estimate along with the list of the work. With the objective of providing a smooth and trouble-free journey to the passengers, the local railway official has sent a proposal for the installation of the escalator under this project and even work of escalator is expected to start soon.

Another major work which is to be done under this project is railway officials are planning to start the platform number 1 along the Dhobi Bazaar side, which will help people to board train directly without passing through over bridge.

It is also pertinent to mention that Bathinda railway station is one of the largest junctions in the country, but it lacks in many facilities at present. Security is the major issue here as there are no metal detator.

Diljit Singh, a city resident, said that they are thankful to the railway officials for the fulfilling the long-pending demand of the residents to have escalators at the railway station. He said if escalators are really installed here, it will really benefit the senior citizens as at present all the passengers had to go to the platform using staircase.

Another resident, Ankush Aggarwal, said modernisation is required but the security of passengers at the railway station is utmost concern as at present, it does not have even the basic security installations - metal detectors. We seldom find policemen stationed around or inside the building. The security needs to be beefed up and traffic must be streamlined at the entrance of the station. He thinks that security should also be updated under this project of modernisation only.

Station Superintendent, Pardip Sharma, said Bathinda railway station is selected for the upgradation by the union ministry and work on it is expected to start soon.