Facelift work on, passengers scooch at city railway station

Owing to the ongoing revamp of the Chandigarh Railway Station under the Amrit Bharat Station project, passengers have been forced to face a tough time at the Platform No. 1, which witnesses arrival and departure of important trains, including Vande Bharat Express (two), Shatabdi Express (three) and Jan Shatabdi Express (one). Figantic pillars have been built on the platform, reducing the width of passage for passengers.

“We have arrived here from Jaipur on the Vande Bharat Express. Our coach was C-13, quite far behind. It was so hard to even reach the exit. Even between two pillars, blockades have been created. It was even hard for two people to walk parallel with luggage in hands,” said Ravi Thakur, a senior citizen. “Only God knows when they will get done with the revamp,” he added.

At 2.45 pm after the arrival of Vande Bharat Express starting from Ajmer, the platform got crowded with the passengers, and the ones alighting from the tail-end coaches of the train could be seen struggling with their luggage walking towards the exit.

“We could not proceed forward as passengers from a coach were stepping out with their bags and the way got blocked with that itself. I understand that once completed, the project would accommodate more passengers, but why aren’t they completing it on time?” questioned 35-year-old Karan, who was standing outside the station waiting for his cab.

It is important to mention that the station is being revamped under a 462-crore project and has missed the completion deadline twice since its start in January 2023. Now, the work is slated to get completed by May next year, as told by the Minister of State for Railways Ravneet Bittu during a visit to check the progress of the project on October 1.