The lone footbridge at the Howrah-end of Tatanagar railway station will be closed for three days from Monday to facilitate construction work for escalators and lifts that are to be installed at the station for passenger convenience.

Officials of the engineering wing of Chakradharpur railway division said that the restriction on passenger use of the footbridge would be extended later for a fortnight.

"We had no other option but to close the foot overbridge though we know that it will inconvenience passengers. We have been making announcements from the morning asking people to use the parcel depot route on the Chakradharpur end of the station to reach platforms 2, 3, 4 and 5," an engineering division official told The Telegraph.

But instead of taking the trouble of walking to the other end of the platform, several commuters chose to get off and walk on tracks to reach platform 2 and board a train, ignoring safety and risking their life and limb.

Ramesh Solanki, who boarded Tata-Barkakana passenger from platform 2, did just that, claiming he had "no time" to go via the alternate route.

Sumit Sengupta, a Tata Steel employee, was to board the Howrah-bound Ispat Superfast, but chose to act responsibly when he realised the footbridge on the Howrah side was closed.

"I immediately took my three-year-old son in my arms and rushed to platform 3 using the other route along with my wife. Thank God, I was able to catch the train," he said.

Station manager O.P. Sharma said that after three days, passengers alighting from trains at platforms 2, 3, 4 and 5 would be able to use the footbridge to exit the station. But, they would not be allowed to use the steps that lead to platform 1 as re-modification work needed for the twin installations would take sometime.

Sources said the Chakradharpur division was hoping to operationalise the escalator on platform 3 within a month, while the escalator on platform 1 was expected to be commissioned in July.

The A1 category Tatanagar railway station is the first under the Chakradharpur division of South Eastern Railway to be selected for installing escalators keeping in mind several factors, including the daily footfall of over 50,000 passengers to and from Jamshedpur.

Besides the two escalators on platforms 1 and 3, two elevators are also coming up on both the platforms.

The entire project was worth Rs 1.5 crore.