Rly station to be disabled friendly; no new train

Aarti Kapur

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, February 1

The Chandigarh railway station will be made disabled friendly and green in the next fiscal. No new train was announced for the city today.

The city station is among 500 railway stations to be made disabled friendly. An announcement in this regard was made by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in the Budget today.

The station will now have a number of facilities for the differently abled. A separate dropping zone will be earmarked for them at the station. Among the other facilities proposed for them are a separate parking area, special toilets, bathrooms, wheelchairs and a ramp for easy entry and exit, a special ticket counter and a helpline.

The station is also among 700 railway stations to be solar powered.

Ambala Divisional Railway Manager Dinesh Kumar said the division had received information from the ministry regarding making the Chandigarh railway station disabled friendly and green. He said the detailed information about the funds and other aspects was still awaited.

He said no new train was announced for the city in the Budget today.

Key issues not addressed, says Bansal

I was hoping that two issues would be addressed in this Budget — setting up of a base kitchen at the Chandigarh railway station and use of the IT industry for developing modern signalling. However, both issues have been left untouched in the Budget. — Pawan Kumar Bansal, former Railway Minister  

What residents say

The installation of a solar power panel at the station will save the money being spent on hefty electricity bills. — Harpeet Singh, human rights activist.

}Installation of escalators will not only help the differently abled, but also senior citizens at the railway station. — CL Kaul, frequent traveller

Withdrawal of the IRCTC service tax is a good initiative and will motivate people to book tickets using                           e-transitions. — Deepika Sharma, boutique owner 

Steps for maintaining cleanliness and hygiene in coaches should be implemented properly for the benefit of passengers. — Sidihika, city resident