Year on, escalator service on Civil Lines side of city railway station still not ready to roll

Ludhiana: The escalator service on the Civil Lines side of the Ludhiana railway station is yet to start even after the expiry of many deadlines set by the railway authorities. The visitors were eagerly waiting for the commencement of the service but the construction work has been hanging fire for the past one year. Earlier, the railway authorities had set the last week of November as the deadline for starting the escalator service on the Civil Lines side. This was the fourth such deadline set by the railway station authorities in the past one year to complete this much-awaited project. The delay being caused in starting the escalator service has irked people visiting the railway station from the Civil Lines side. If the escalator service starts, it will prove quite beneficial for the elderly and physically handicapped passengers. At present, passengers entering and exiting the railway station from the Civil Lines sides have to face a lot of inconvenience due to the non-availability of ramps on this side of the railway station. This problem will be resolved once the escalator starts functioning. “We have been waiting for the start of the escalator service on the Civil Lines side of the railway station for a long time. We were expecting that the service will start before December, but there is no sign of this service to begin soon. The authorities shall ask the contractor to increase the pace of work,” said Raman Bajaj, a businessman. Ludhiana railway station director Abhinav Singla said they have already instructed the construction firm to step up the pace of the work. — Jaswant Shetra