The Agra railway division is known for taking proactive steps to provide better services to passengers. The latest in a series of such steps is making the railway station more friendly for people with disabilities so that they can avail all the services comfortably.
There are three initiatives, in particular, which the department has taken under the guidance of Senior Divisional Commercial Manager, Aman Verma, and his team. Indian Masterminds spoke to Mr. Verma to get the details.
DISABLED FRIENDLY STATION
An unique step that has been taken by the department at the Agra Cantt Railway Station is of introducing Braille platform indicators on the railings of foot overbridges and subways for the visually impaired.
Mr. Verma said, “A QR code has been introduced where the visually impaired people can scan and access the Braille map which provide the details of the layout of the entire station. This will help them in locating things easily.”
Apart from this, braille signs have been introduced at all the public amenities, such as washrooms, water, waiting rooms etc. Illuminating reflective strips at the stairs for people with low vision have also been provided.
Lastly, the department has also provided relief to the physically disabled people by introducing ramps which will help them in reaching their seats on wheelchairs. Earlier, one had to carry them into the train and help them to their seat.
TWO-WHEELER PACKAGING
Another passenger-friendly initiative is the two-wheeler packaging unit, started at the Agra railway station, which has made life much easier for people to relocate. Mr. Verma said, “Earlier people who wanted to transport their two-wheeler had to outsource the packaging and bear hefty price for the same. Many people used to bear large amounts due to the compulsion of time, etc. Also, before packaging the vehicle, all the petrol or diesel had to be extracted. This was another big task for the people.”
Therefore, to ease this process, an initiative was taken by the department and the packaging service was introduced at the station itself. Not just the Agra division of NCR zones, but the Lucknow divisions of NER and NR zones also introduced the service at Agra Cantt, Agra Fort, Mathura junction, Lucknow junction, Charbagh, Varanasi junction and Gorakhpur junction.
Mr. Verma said, “Now people have a choice of availing packaging service from the station or from outside. Three different prices are set in the station for packaging of different quality. People now have to just bring their vehicle to the station and give it for packaging at the parcel office. After packaging the vehicle is loaded in the train from there itself.”
This initiative is being much beneficial for students and people from government and army background, as they are the ones who move cities quite often.
By taking such thoughtful steps, the Agra Division of Railways has made the lives of passengers much easier and, hence, these initiatives are drawing much attention and appreciation from all around.
