Andheri station building fails to impress commuters

The new state-of-the-art station building at Andheri (East) opened with much fanfare on December 20. But commuters are already complaining that the number of ticket counters for suburban trains have reduced.

The new state-of-the-art station building at Andheri (East) opened with much fanfare on December 20. But commuters are already complaining that the number of ticket counters for suburban trains have reduced.

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The building has been constructed at a cost of Rs 4.41 crore.

“Earlier, there were 13 ticket windows, now there are 10 windows,” said Kailash Verma, member, Mumbai Rail Pravasi Sangh.

Another complaint is that the pathway leading to the ticket counter is narrow, which leads to a lot of congestion. Commuters feel that some windows are closed especially during peak hours. “We thought this building would have everything and we would not have to wait in long queues,” said Samir Pawar, a commuter who travels to Lower Parel every day.

Commuters said there is a lot of noise pollution because of the work, which is underway on the skywalk. The skywalk will be connected to the second floor of the building.

“We will complete work on the second floor in a phased manner. Then commuters will have seven more UTS counters, so this is a temporary issue,” said S Chandrayan, chief PRO, Western Railway.

The second floor is expected to complete by April.

The building has 10 UTS counters, 8 PRS counters (reservation counters for long distance trains), public toilets, two lifts and a food plaza on the ground floor. The first floor houses the VIP room, magistrate court and office.

Western Railway officials said after the skywalk will make it easier for commuters to reach the platform.

“Commuters can directly walk till the building, buy a ticket and reach the platform using the foot overbridge,” the WR official said.