Jaipur Metro shelves skywalk to railway station

Jaipur: The Jaipur Metro Rail Corporation (JMRC) has shelved the proposal to construct a skywalk between the elevated Metro station (Railway station) and Jaipur railway station.

Passengers travelling by the Jaipur Metro will have no choice but to continue to take the longer route to the railway station.

As per the plan, a 500-metre-long skywalk, the longest in the city, was proposed between both these stations. JMRC officials claimed that the project has been shelved as the North Western Railway (NWR) was not convinced about its feasibility.

"The sky walkway was proposed to connect the Metro station and railway station. A foot overbridge (FOB) was to be constructed above platform numbers 1, 2 and 3. However, NWR officials were apprehensive of give it the nod due to security concerns," said a JMRC official.

According to the official, no direct access is given or walkways constructed from Metro stations to railway platforms or stations even in other cities. Though an alternative plan was suggested to build a subway, it was also dropped.

"A new subway was proposed to be constructed from parking areas of both stations. Passengers could go to any platform from the parking lot. However, this too didn't see the light of the day," the official said.

According to sources, the railways had even invited tenders for constructing the subway and work was expected to be completed in two years at a cost of Rs 3 crore. However, the tenders were cancelled.

On the 9.25km Metro route, the maxium number of passengers takes the Metro from Jaipur railway station. If JMRC had implemented the skywalk project, it would have been a lot easier for passengers who now have to climb up and down carrying heavy luggage.