RailEnquiry

RANCHI: Passengers at Ranchi railway station are having a tough time catching trains during rush hour because of closure of platform No. 1. Commuters have to walk along tracks to reach platform Nos. 2 and 3 since platform No. 1 was closed down on Thursday. The footbridge remains overcrowded most of the time, making it difficult for travellers to walk with luggage. "The railways should have made some alternate arrangement before shutting the platform near the entrance," said Umesh Prasad Sharma, a senior citizen who arrived by Howrah-Ranchi Shatabdi Express on Friday afternoon. Another passenger, Sunit Rajmohan, who works in Bangalore, faced the same problem on reaching Ranchi. "It is difficult to go to the platforms during office time. The situation is unimaginable," he said. However, railway authorities played down the problem and said no formal complaint has been lodged. "There's no major problem," said station manager H K Pandey, adding that closure of that platform is creating the congestion. GRP constables have been deployed to monitor tracks, especially during peak hours, said GRP officer Ajit Kumar. The construction work at the platform will take 45 days. The station has five platforms, of which Nos 4 and 5 are not used for passenger trains and expresses. "The main rush is therefore diverted towards platforms 2 and 3," said a railway official. "The work has been sped up to ensure that the project is ready soon," said divisional railway officer G Malaya. Even the coolies have a hard time. " Incomes have gone down due to the construction of the apron. Now it takes me around 15 minutes to reach platform number 2/3 or 4/5. Earlier because most of the premium trains used to depart from platform number 1 it was easy for us to carry the luggage," said Indradev Prasad, a coolie at Ranchi railway station.