A quaint and strange station

BANGALORE: Wearing a deserted look, the Byappanahalli railway station is in dismal shape boasting of the apathy and disinterest exhibited on the part of the authority concerned. The comfort of using other hi-tech railways stations of the city with facilities like the digital indicators and computerised systems vanishes, as soon as one comes face-to-face with this desolated base. Hitting the headlines a couple of years ago regarding its upgradation into a proposed world class railway station, sharing the burden of the other important terminals bursting at their seams, the station still stands deserted, craving for the� much desired attention.

The terminal that appears to be an abandoned building in a rural area has nothing to brag about. Comprising� two platforms and 13 pairs of trains hitting the base everyday, the terminus falls way behind the margin, when it comes to the availability of basic amenities like drinking water and lavatories.

�Although maintained fairly clean and the platforms have drinking water facility, the dispensers are tapless and have been left so, since kingdom come.

With over 10 such concrete water spots available at the station, none of them have taps attached. And the only water dispenser near the reservation counter is too shoddy to be used.

“Although not among the main railway stations of the city, the platform has considerable number of passenger trains passing by everyday. People do use this terminal and thus the least the authorities should do is, make clean drinking water available for the commuters. But even that is lacking here," said A Philip, a� commuter at the station.

Moreover, the only food and tea stall at the platform is closed mostly, making the situation further difficult for the people at the platforms.

“There is no toilet available on platform number 2 and the one on platform 1 is too filthy to be used. They do not have regular water supply and are too unhygienic to be used. Moreover, it is kept locked mostly,”� said a commuter.

The road leading to the terminal has a different saga to narrate. Nothing less than a bumpy ride can take you to the station, and further greeting the commuters is a broken and uneven staircase with weeds everywhere.

“It is quite evident that the station is not being taken care of. Absence of basic amenities and negligence exhibited on the part of authority concerned, had left the terminal in deplorable condition. Passengers and their problems have been left unattended,” said Rajan, a commuter.

People crossing the railway track to reach the next platform is a common sight. The reason being, absence of foot over-bridge or subway.The platform has no overbridge and the only way to reach the other side without jumping on the tracks is by using the road. “Using the road to go on the other side is a tedious task, and that also means encountering traffic. We find crossing the tracks more convenient,” said Manish, a commuter. When City Express tried to contact the railway authorities, they remained unavailable for comment.

(For updates you can share with your friends, follow IBNLive on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Pinterest)