Title - Railway station lacks basic facilities

Jammu : The Jammu railway station, which is considered one of the busiest railway stations of the country and witnesses around 50,000 passengers everyday, presents a dirty picture. The station, which receives passengers mostly heading towards Vaishno Devi shrine, lacks basic facilities.With just three platforms, it lacks most of the basic amenities. The station does not have sufficient benches for the passengers to rest at the platforms.RN Meena, Divisional Traffic Manager, Jammu, while talking to The Tribune said, “Well, the expansion project can solve all problems but it cannot start overnight. We are thinking over it but it may take some time”.“The Railways has got the approval for a multiplex project. It will start by next month. There was a stay on the project by the SRTC but now it has been approved and the multiplex building will provide all the world-class facilities to the passengers visiting here”.Jammu witnesses around 1 crore passengers every year and most of the passengers enter the city through the Jammu railway station but lack of development here has affected the facilities being provided here.“There is no bench at the railway station for the passengers, neither is there any good place where one can rest. It is one of the important railway stations in the northern region as the Vaishno Devi shrine draws lakhs of tourists every month but there is nothing here that welcomes us towards this place”, said Sharadh, a tourist.Raghav Sharma, a frequent traveller, said though the station is critical, there is no special arrangement for its security. “There is no checking of platform tickets. Anybody can enter the station and nobody will ask you the reason why you are standing here. Even beggars can be seen on the platforms”, he added.

Busiest station
The Jammu railway station, which is considered one of the busiest railway stations of the country, witnesses around 50,000 passengers everyday.