New Delhi: With an aim of making movement of passengers hassle-free at platforms, railways will install 12 escalators at some of the busiest stations in the national capital region (NCR).
New Delhi station, which handles about 5 lakh passengers a day, is going to have three more escalators besides the two existing ones as per the plan finalised by the railways.
"We are in the process of selecting three platforms for the installation of escalators at New Delhi station," said a senior Delhi Division official.
Besides three at New Delhi, there will be four escalators at Old Delhi Station, three at Nizamuddin Station, one each at Faridabad and Shahdara stations. "There will be a total of 12 escalators in the NCR zone in the first phase," said the official.
The work order for escalator installation is being finalised by the Railway Ministry. It would cost about Rs 1.25 crore to install an escalator.
As part of the decision to improve facilities at stations, railways have decided to provide 100 escalators at about 49 busy stations including Kharagpur, Sealdah, Thane, Agra, Patna, Ranchi and Jaipur for which a centralised order has been placed.
The Railway Budget 2012-13 has earmarked Rs 34.69 crore for this purpose in the current fiscal.
Besides it has also been proposed to install additional 221 escalators at various stations in the coming years.
There are more than 7,000 stations across the country. However, there is no proposal at present to install lifts at stations.
PTI
