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The commissioner for railway safety has given an approval to the Chakradharpur division of South Eastern Railway for starting work on setting up two escalators at Tatanagar, an A-category station.
Sources said the moving stairs would connect the platforms with an abandoned overbridge that is scheduled to be revamped into a railway footbridge before the Burmamines-side entry of the station is made operational.
Speaking to The Telegraph on Sunday, spokesperson of Chakradharpur railway division K.N. Biswas confirmed the developments and said work was likely to start in the next couple of days.
“We have got the necessary nod from the commissioner of railway safety. The escalators will connect the station to the abandoned overbridge,” Biswas said.
The tender process for both the escalators has already been completed.
While one will provide access from the overbridge to platform Nos. 2 and 3, the other will lead to the overbridge from platform Nos. 4 and 5. Officials said funds to the tune of Rs 1.70 crore had been earmarked by the railway board for the project.
Tatanagar, the second busiest station of South Eastern Railway, will be the second to boast the escalator facility. Howrah station in Bengal, the busiest on the South Eastern Railway network, has escalators connecting its old and new complexes. The facility was introduced in 2011.
Biswas, who is also the senior divisional commercial manager of Chakradharpur, estimated that it would take around four months for completing the project.
He said escalators at the station would come as a boon for the elderly, the physically challenged and passengers who travel with heavy luggage.
The entry on the Burmamines side of the station will only be thrown open to passengers after work on setting up the escalators is completed.
Officials said construction work on the second entry was progressing at a tidy pace with the ticket counters, a waiting room, toilets, car parking and other facilities almost complete.
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