Railways must meet deadlines of station revamps

At Charni Road station, the south-end elevated booking office that had been dismantled will be built with a bridge linking it to all the platforms

When it comes to Mumbai, it must be local trains. The Western Railway is set to rebuild Grant Road, Charni Road, Mahalaxmi and Dadar stations - all of which see significant footfall. Work is expected to begin before March next year, officials said, as reported in this paper.

Major changes include new station buildings, and there are extensive plans of revamping old ticket offices. Most of these offices will have newly made linkages to all the platforms. The overall idea is an upgradation as it is needed, responding to changing crowd patterns and repairs. There is an understanding that access is all at these commuting hubs, so increasing linkages to platforms and across the station is important.

The work is to start by March, and we do hope the authorities are going to stick to the timeline. We are seeing an uptick in commuters at the stations, given that the city is opening up slowly. As more restrictions are expected to fall away, barring no deadly turns in the course of the outbreak, we will see a crowd surge at the stations.

When work is on, proper signage and directions about alternatives for people are a must. Neatly piled debris from the work, so that it does not hamper people's movements, would work to everyone's advantage. Even announcements about ongoing work and closing of access to certain parts of the station if needed will help avoid unpleasant surprises and confusion. We have witnessed that wrong information or no information at all leads to situations that can spiral out of control very quickly.

Let there be a spirit of respect, acknowledgement and give ‘n' take among harried commuters and railway authorities, while this major work is on.