Railway authorities are working on a plan to link the bridges to make it convenient for commuters to get to any platform and to ensure better crowd management
Bridging the gap: Linking FOBs at Pune Railway station will help commuters go to any platform without trouble. Pic/MohanPatil
Pune station is soon to get a bridge makeover with the railway administration's plan to interconnect three of its foot over-bridges (FOBs) to make the crossover easier for commuters.
Bridging the gap: Linking FOBs at Pune Railway station will help commuters go to any platform without trouble. Pic/MohanPatil
Keeping in mind the two lakh customers who use these bridges on a daily basis, this move will help passengers to get to any FOB or platform thus reducing the load on a particular overpass.
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At present, there is only one FOB at the main entrance to the station which has direct exit points at both ends.
The other overpass is near the parcel office which is not used much. The construction of the third bridge began in January this year and is being erected on the Solapur end of the station which will connect platforms 1,2 and 3.
"All the three FOBs will be connected to each other with one central lane, through which passengers can easily get to any platform.
During peak hours, commuters rush to get to the platforms and the burden falls on the FOBs. To reduce this load, if a passenger wants to navigate from one FOB to another, interconnectivity is necessary," said Suneet Sharma, Pune divisional railway manager.
"The tender process for this work has been completed and it has been awarded to a contractor. The work will soon begin and passengers will certainly benefit from this," he added.
Rush hour
When major trains like the Howrah Express, Jhelum Express arrive, passengers are seen dodging and pushing each other to get to the train platform in time.
This makes it dangerous for children and women travelling on the bridge. Also some of the steps of the FOBs on platforms 3 and 4 are slippery causing passengers to slip and fall.
Dinesh Adhav, a frequent traveller told mid-day, "Passengers at the station wait for instructions to know on which platform their train will arrive.
When the announcement is made, it creates a panic situation and passengers start running through FOBs and most of them fall down, get hurt and some even miss their train."
"Connecting all the FOBs is a good initiative and it will help the passengers to get to any FOB or platform,"Adhav added.
2 lakh
Number of commuters using the foot over-bridges at Pune station daily
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