Stuck in second gear: Only one of city’s 5 major railway stations is disabled-friendly

Railway stations: Ranjan Sharma, 42, with a bro ken foot and armed with crutches, tries to help himself in any way he can to avoid relying on others. For the past couple of months, he has had to use crutches to walk after rupturing his femur in an accident. With heavy steps, he dragged himself along the entry gate of the New Delhi Railway Station. However, he was not prepared for what awaited him as he got on the escalator.

Finding himself atop the over head bridge leading to his platform, a heavy crowd stopped him right in his tracks for a simple reason — the elevator was too small to accommodate everyone. Without an escalator to descend to the platform, he was left stranded as he waited for the crowd to clear. However, with just a single backpack, he was too slow to get into the elevator each time it arrived at the bridge. Someone in a hurry pushed him, and he was left clutching just one of his crutches.

“Someone or the other was crowding around me. The crutch supporting my ruptured left leg fell to the ground, but someone helped me pick it up. I just wish there were more elevators, escalators, or at least a bigger elevator to take the disabled down. All of these elevators have the disabled symbol on them, but either nobody can read it or the management is not aware of our plight,” he said.

Sharma, who was alone and set to return home to Mumbai, found himself at the brink of absolute breakdown with nowhere left to go. After about his fifth attempt to get in, he succeeded, vowing never to return.

New Delhi Railways Station

The largest and one of the busiest railway stations across the nation al capital, NDLS serves as the focal junction for Delhi’s scores of commuters. According to officials, the station serves five lakh passengers daily; however, with the festive sea son underway, there has been a gradual uptick in commuters, with the daily count rising to seven lakh.

Despite the considerable rise in commuters, the station is attempting to help with its limited resources.

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NDLS is the fifth largest station in India, with a total of 16 plat forms. The first and sixteenth plat forms can be reached from ground level, while the other platforms must be accessed via the overhead bridge. In total, the station has 25 escalators and 10 lifts to cater to commuters.

However, among the 10 lifts, one was shut down for the festive sea son at Platform 16. The escalators are present on most platforms to allow passengers to climb up towards the overhead bridge to exit the station. However, of the three bridges, only two have space for escalators, while the third only con tains stairs to reach the platform and exit the station.

“The lack of ramps has just become a fact for all of us. If there were ramps, it would have been so much easier to travel without thinking about the immense crowd in front of the escalators or elevators. The usage of elevators, technically, should have been barred to the general public,” said Vishesh Garodia, 62, who was being helped out of the station in a wheelchair.

Currently, the station has a ramp near the cloakroom at Platform 16, where disabled individuals and goods are taken through, right next to the end of the platforms, where it runs across the rail line. “It is extremely scary and, on the whole, unfortunate that we have been thought of as an afterthought,” he said.

Hazrat Nizamuddin Railway Station

Similarly, the situation remains the same at Hazrat Nizamuddin Railway Station.

Catering to a significantly small er number of passengers, the amenities provided are more limited.

Although all platforms have their share of elevators, there remains an absence of escalators, with only the entry point near Platform 1 having access to them. On the other hand, multiple commuters have complained about elevators being under maintenance for long periods, even during the festive season.

To put matters into perspective, the elevators, according to a daily commuter, have been under maintenance for the past four months without much change. “Every month, some elevator or the other undergoes maintenance. Couple this with the fact that there are no escalators, it makes daily travel almost impossible,” he said, on the condition of anonymity.

Unlike other stations, Nizamuddin was not built to support accessibility for the disabled. Considering the circumstances, the station only has a disabled-friendly ramp at its entry gate to help people reach the ticket counter or get off at the parking space near Jangpura metro station. However, the entry at the back of the station near the Sarai Kale Khan Nizamuddin metro station lacks both an elevator and an escalator. It is simply a matter of tough luck if someone finds themselves in that situation.

“I had too much baggage when I was climbing up the stairs to the overhead bridge connecting the platforms. There were no attendants or officials on the ground near the Sarai Kale Khan Nizamuddin metro station whom I could ask for help to get to my platform or to get a wheelchair,” said Amar Bisht, 68, as he frantically helped his luggage up the stairs leading to the overhead bridge.

According to officials, the amenities are sufficient to support the disabled. “Our primary responsibility is ensuring that all commuters reach from point A to point B. Everything else, including comfort or making a space disabled-friendly, mostly comes down to an additional effort borne by us,” he said.

OId Delhi Railways Station

Old Delhi Railway Station is no dif ferent when it comes to the pattern prevailing across the national capital’s major railway stations. With just one pair of escalators at Platform 1 leading to the overhead bridge connecting it to the other platforms, the plight of the dis abled has been swept under the rug with ease. To put matters into perspective, the station has 16 platforms, of which only one has escalator access. However, dis abled-friendly ramps are still unseen.

“My father can barely walk, and having to support him on my shoulders to climb down the stairs is very cumbersome alongside the luggage we are already carrying. The least that could have been done is making the elevators a viable option or building an escalator, as they have at Platform 1,” said Rajesh Choudhary, a finance consultant based in Delhi.

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Sarai Rohilla Railway Station

A similar situation prevails at Sarai Rohilla. However, due to a smaller number of platforms (seven), the station sees less traffic than its counterparts. A rough estimate by officials puts the daily count at around 70,000 during the festive season. Mostly connecting to the western belt of Rajasthan, many amenities commonly found at other stations are absent here, including extensive car parking space.

The station has no provisions for the disabled. To put matters into perspective, the overhead bridge only has stairs leading up to it for those needing to reach other plat forms. If one is using a wheelchair, they are typically pushed across the railway lines when the traffic is clear of any trains.

“It becomes difficult for us too, to walk or climb stairs without any form of elevator to help us,” said Prem Singh, a porter at the station.

Anand Vihar Railway Station

Among the city’s major railway stations, Anand Vihar Railway Station has the most disabled-friendly infrastructure.

Located at the Ghaziabad border, this railway station has disabled friendly ramp access at all seven platforms. Thus, even when elevators or escalators fail to work, the disabled do not suffer from negligence by the authorities.

Himanshu Shekhar Upadhyay, the Chief Public Relations Officer of the Indian Railways, said eleva tors and escalators at railway stations are meant to facilitate the specially-abled.

“All of our elevators are disabled friendly, and there can never be a moment when they or anyone has to wait for over 10 minutes to use them. On the other hand, we also have escalators to help them. Other than that, nothing else is required,” he said.

Currently, NDLS has eight wheel chairs on each end of Platforms 1 and 16, according to officials. Hazrat Nizamuddin Railway Station has over 10 wheelchairs, while Anand Vihar has four. The other stations did not divulge this information. All these stations also have golf carts to ferry passengers.