Title - Facilities poser on Patliputra Station inauguration

Passengers could be able to board and disembark from trains at Patliputra railway station from Independence Day this year provided all the services are ready.

The station, which has been constructed at a cost of Rs 1.5 crore, is expected to reduce the load on Patna Junction and Rajendra Nagar Terminus. Located 12km northwest of Patna Junction, it is ready to receive trains.

The commissioner of railway safety gave the green light for operation of trains from the station in November last year.

But passenger services are not ready yet.

A senior officer at the Danapur division of East Central Railway, who did not want to be named, said: “Patliputra railway station is ready for trains. There is no problem with that. But the passenger services are not ready at the station yet.”

Asked about the missing services, the officer said: “There are no shops and eateries at the station. Passengers have to be provided with this facility. Bids have been invited to open shops and bidders would be shortlisted soon.”

The station also does not have a cloakroom — a facility, which every station needs to have. Passengers keep their luggage in cloakrooms while they wait for trains. For 24 hours, passengers have to pay Rs 15 to use the cloakroom service.

Sources said pending work on other aspects of the station like modification of the parking space, booking-cum-reservation office (with bandwidth and routers provided by RailTel Corporation of India Limited – a Telecom PSU under Ministry of Railways and CRIS), enquiry counter, parcel office, and rooms for Government Railway Police and Railway Protection Force, have been completed.

The officer said: “The railway would be very happy to open the station to the residents on Independence Day. But it all depends on the pending work being completed.”

The work is being done at a steady pace, he added.

Another important aspect that the railways need to look into before the station is opened is deputation of staff for the management of the station. At present, more than 350 trains pass through the two stations in Patna. Once ready, some of these trains would be able to use the new station at Patliputra.

Trains going towards Pune, Bangalore, Mumbai and Hyderabad could pass through this station. It has parking space for 100 autos and 50 cars, a rest room for travelling ticket examiners, wooden benches on platforms and drinking water facility.

Lights have been installed at all three platforms, which can accommodate trains with up to 24 compartments.

ECR chief public relation officer Amitabh Prabhakar said: “The station will solve the problem of congestion of trains at Patna Junction. It will improve arrival and departure timing.”