GUWAHATI, July 22 - As a part of its plan to improve passenger amenities and make train stations more commuter friendly, the Maligaon-headquartered Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) is taking up a major project of installing lifts and escalators in stations across the zone.
NFR sources said that the work is being taken up on a phase-wise basis and will cover most of the major stations in the zone.
�The target is to have lifts and escalators at major stations which witness greater footfall of passengers. This is being done to provide easier access to passengers and make the railway services more user friendly,� said an official.
As a part of the plan, seven new lifts have been targeted for commissioning by September this year during the first phase of the project.
These new lifts will be commissioned at Guwahati, Lumding, Tinsukia, New Jalpaiguri, New Coochbehar and Katihar railway stations.
During the second phase, 12 new lifts are planned to be provided.
The second phase commissioning is expected to be completed by October end and will cover the railway stations at Guwahati, Kamakhya, Lumding, Tinsukia, Dibrugarh, New Coochbehar, Kishanganj and Katihar.
In addition, the Railway Board has also sanctioned another 24 lifts which will be provided at important stations of the zone later during the fiscal.
�These lifts would facilitate the movement of passengers from the platform level to the foot overbridges. They would be very useful for aged and specially-abled passengers who find in difficult to climb the steps in order to cross over from one platform to another,� said an official.
Each lift will have a capacity to carry 11 persons at a time and will be functional round the clock with uninterrupted power supply.
NFR is also planning to instal escalators in major stations.
The target is to commission at least 18 new escalators across the zone by December this year.
Two new escalators each are planned for Guwahati, Kamakhya, Lumding, New Tinsukia, Rangiya, New Jalpaiguri, New Coochbehar, Katihar and Kishanganj railway stations.
