Commuting at Ranchi Railway Station would be easier from September as the escalator at Platform number one for climbing up the foot over bridge is likely to function from the first week of this month. This heavy duty escalator will be the first of its kind in Jharkhand, once it begins working.
Work for another escalator which is to be installed at platform number four cum five is expected to start in a month.
Four workers and two engineers of Delhi based private company Autometer Alliance limited are working swiftly for completion of platform number one’s escalator along with Ranchi’s Gharonda Home Private limited within a week and submit the same to the electricity department of South East Railway Division for power input and output. After this, the construction of next escalator is scheduled. “Though the entire project will be done in a span of 10 to 15 days but it will take around one and a half month for railway staffs to carry out the successful process of escalator work. It is not an easy task after all,” said a Ranchi railway Division employee on the condition of anonymity.
The employee also briefed on the Public-Private Partnership horizons of this technical equipment. He said, “Be it stairs, rods or electricity. All are being managed by different units.” Right now, the escalator is being connected to the foot over bridge linking the staircases of all the platforms. A labourer here informed that maintenance of such heavy duty escalator like using safety measures preventing from water and dust would be difficult as there is a huge crunch of maintenance employees in railway sector across the nation.
“Escalators used commercially and at Airports have maintenance people but not railways,” he said. This escalator has automated specialty of stopping whenever a heavy object falls on it.