Madurai railway junction is undergoing a major revamp aimed at providing passengers greater mobility in the station area.
In a statement, Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) Neenu Ittyerah said that underutilised space in the eastern side of the railway station was being redeveloped to ease the congestion of vehicular traffic.
The entire circulating area has been re-designed to address the problem of inadequate space for people to walk and inadequate parking space. A wider pedestrian plaza is being provided for passengers who access the station on foot from the bus stand and lodges and hotels in the vicinity.
The length of the bus bays have also been extended so that three city buses can be halted at the same time for the passengers to board and de-board. Passengers can then walk through a paved way into the station building. The entry point for all vehicles has been shifted and widened duly segregating private vehicles from autorickshaws.
The autorickshaws will be accessing the station through a dedicated road and will have limited parking inside the station area. “We also propose to locate Railway Protection Force and Government Railway Police posts close to the auto parking to assist passengers and monitor autorickshaw services,” the DRM said.
Private vehicles entering the station will be able to access premium and non-premium parking. A second entry into platform one opposite to the multi-functional complex has been provided. Platform tickets and unreserved tickets will be available at this new entry through automatic ticket vending machines manned by facilitators. ‘Pay and Use’ toilet will soon come up in the circulating area. A new foot-over-bridge has also been built connecting the concourse to platforms 2 to 6, the statement said.