RailFans never grow old

Shorter queue, direct BRTS to Kalupur station in 2015
It will get new booking office with more
windows & dedicated lanes for vehicles
Sharadkumar @itzsharadkumar
We plan to transform the old booking office into...
more...

food joint
—Pradeep Sharma,
PRO, Western Railways
I am sceptical about the new place helping reduce the chaos
—Mohit Variya,
student & regular commuter
The whole project is expected to get over by the first quarter of 2015
—AK Tiwari,
divisional railway manager
Dedicated auto parking stand and lanes will be of great help to us 
—Mahinder Sindhi,
auto driver
stakeholders speak
What’s
the rush...
l 21,218 passengers use the Kalupur railway station daily on an average
l Rs1.09 crore is the average daily earnings of the station
l 77.4 lakh passengers travelled from the station in 2013-14
l Rs 400 crore was the earning of the station in 2013-14
Looking
forward to
l New ticket booking office
l More booking counters
l New waiting room for passengers
l New food
court
l Three lane drive-through
l Systematic parking for private vehicles and autos
l Seperate lane for BRTS bus
route
(Above) Construction of the booking office in progress (Inset) the railway station as it exists today —Sharadkumar/dna
Kalupur railway station will sport a brand new look and upped facilities in 2015. Often associated with commotion and chaos, the station will now have a clean, minimalistic and chaos-free look, thanks to modernisation plans set into motion. The renovation exercise is focused on the front façade of the station which witnesses the worst traffic bottleneck. On offer is a new ticket booking place with more windows to cater to the rush; there will also be separate lanes for incoming vehicles (autos, taxi and BRTS) and better managed parking lots — all this at a cost of Rs1.8 crore
Talking about the makeover, divisional railway manager AK Tiwari said construction has already started. “The new ticket booking office is right at the entrance, unlike the earlier one where people had to go inside the station. In addition, it is positioned to allow passengers direct entry to the platform,” said Tiwari.
Apart from this, the office may have additional booking windows to cater to the rush.Pradeep Sharma, public relations officer (PRO), Western Railways, said the booking office will have 21 or more counters. “This will help reduce the time people spend waiting to book their tickets and will minimise the crowding,” said Sharma.
He added that a brand new waiting room and a food joint are also in the offing. “We plan to transform the old booking office into a food joint,” said Sharma.
The other initiative is to construct a three-lane driving facility in front of the station. This is being done to reduce chaos and congestion.
Explaining further, Sharma said the first lane will exclusively be for BRTS buses. It will be one-way, he added. “The second will be allotted to auto drivers. People who wish to get an auto or get down from one will be restricted to that particular lane. Autos will also be parked there,” said Sharma.
Auto drivers at the railway station have welcomed the move. One such driver, Mahinder Sindhi, said such a clearly demarcated area will help them function better. “If the auto parking stand and lanes are demarcated properly and function systematically, it will be of great help to us as it will avoid constant altercations with authorities and cops,” said Sindhi.
The third lane will be for private vehicles that come to the station to drop and pick passengers. This lane will also be connected to a parking slot exclusively for private two and four-wheelers.
Amdavadis, meanwhile, have welcomed the move. Mohit Variya, an engineering student who regularly travels between Ahmedabad and Rajkot, said, “I think the shifting of the booking windows is the best thing to happen. It means we don’t have to go inside the railway station to book tickets although I am sceptical whether the new place will help reduce the chaos.”
Tiwari said the whole project is expected to be over by the first quarter of 2015.
“Once this is implemented, navigating through the station will become a hassle-free affair. Crowding will also come down drastically,” said Tiwari.