Opening of the much-awaited prepaid autorickshaw counter at Mangalore Junction Railway Station is one of the several initiatives proposed by the Southern Railway (SR) during the Rail Passenger and Customer Facilitation Fortnight being observed from May 26 to June 9.
Though dates are not finalised for beginning the prepaid counter, it is expected to start functioning during the fortnight, said Anand Prakash, Divisional Railway Manager, Palakkad. He said the issue of sharing of service charge (Re. 1) equally between the service provider and the Railways would be sorted out during his visit to Mangaluru next week.
While the required paraphernalia to operate the counter are in place long back, opening of the counter has been caught in the gridlock over sharing of the service charge. The district administration, which is overseeing the functioning of the counter, is not keen on sharing the revenue since the income (Re. 1 per head) is already deemed too meagre by the selected service provider. Presently, people are forced to pay fares as demanded by autorickshaw drivers since the station is located off the Mangaluru-Bengaluru national highway.
Apart from the prepaid counter, the SR would also inaugurate digital coach guidance system at Mangaluru Junction. Mr. Prakash said testing of the system is under way and formal inauguration would be done. At the same time, the SR would also launch onboard housekeeping services on two trains between Mangaluru and Chennai — train no. 22638, Mangaluru-Chennai Central West Coast Express and train no. 12601, Chennai Central-Mangaluru Mail.
Work on installing escalators at Mangalore Central Railway Station is in its final stages and are likely to be commissioned during the fortnight. The SR is also proposing to install elevators at this station, but it might take about three months, the Divisional Railway Manager said.
Padil-Bajal RuB
Mr. Prakash, however, was sceptical about the commissioning of Padil-Bajal road under-bridge near Mangalore Junction Railway Station, though Union Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda had asked the Railways to commission it by this month-end.
Despite meetings along with MP Nalin Kumar Kateel and repeated reminders, the Mangaluru City Corporation had not submitted the final drafts for the approach roads, which would delay the opening of the RuB, he added.
