E-Paper
Battery-operated carts out of service at Pune railway station
On Sunday, several elderly commuters were seen manually pushing their luggage on platforms 1, 2 and 3 of the Pune Railway Station
The two battery-powered carts, meant to assist disabled and elderly passengers at the Pune Railway Station, have been out of order for the past two months. The service, which was relaunched back in May this year, has been dormant owing to recurring battery problems and operator unavailability.
On Sunday, several elderly commuters were seen manually pushing their luggage on platforms 1, 2 and 3 of the Pune Railway Station.
Dhananjay Chaudhary, 61, carrying two large sacks, said, “It would have been extremely beneficial if I was aware of the facility. I’ve been suffering from back pain, so having a cart to ferry me to the platform would have been much more convenient.”
The buggies, which were previously inoperable due to the pandemic, were reconsidered for operation following a detailed plan by the Railway authorities. The officials had promised that the carts would be fully functional on platforms 1, 2, and 3, with new foot ramps built for them.
“Unfortunately, there are no operators to run the cart. It will only be feasible to ply the cart on platform 1 of the junction, whereas platforms 2 and 3 are not ideal. These platforms have ramps and escalators that hinder cart movement, hence other options are being considered there. Wheelchairs are an alternative to these defunct buggies, and currently, we have about ten of them. There are people available to assist senior citizens if necessary. Efforts are being made to address this issue,” said Manoj Jhawar, Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Pune railway division.
DV Shirodkar, 80, who was on his way to Goa, stated, “The amount of walking we have to do, especially between platforms, is always an issue. Of course, there is some inconvenience for us. However, with the growing population, I don’t expect the government or the people to do more.”
Furthermore, the railways have been plagued by clogged toilets, littered corridors, and stagnant water on washroom floors. Passengers on Twitter have been complaining about the staff’s inability to handle the situation.
So far, the Carriage and Wagon Controller has recorded at least 350 complaints per month. To clean the floors, a system of on-board staff has been established.
“The railway app directs complaints to the appropriate departments. Any complaint will be coordinated with the supervisor, and the issue should be resolved within 10 minutes, or a penalty will be imposed on the staff. The number of complaints increases seasonally, especially around Diwali, Chhath Pooja and Dussehra,” said Vijaysinh Dadas, Senior Divisional Mechanical Engineer (C&W).
“Every day, we receive 15 to 16 complaints from passengers about any onboard issues, and we immediately get to resolving them when they reach our stations,” he added.
According to Shantanu Sachdeva, a frequent traveller, “The cleanliness depends on respective coaches. The local trains have mostly given me a bad experience. Sometimes people don’t flush or there is vomit all over the place. Trains like Shatabdi in 2nd or 3rd AC coaches are well maintained.”
