The unhurried and tranquil atmosphere of R K Narayan’s fictional Malgudi station flashes through your mind the instant you step inside Yeshwantpur Railway Station. Retired senior citizens are engaged in an animated discussion on a bench, many dogs laze around and little boys from the neighbouring railway quarters are playing.

This picturesque image belies the hurried pace of work going on to upgrade the station to bring it on par with the City Railway station. The latest addition was the eco-friendly Track Machine Care Centre, inaugurated a fortnight ago, housed amidst seven-and-a-half acre green plot with 4,000 trees and medicinal plants—all at a cost of Rs two crore.

The centre, which resembles a software firm, has a huge shed and a 450-square metre building to house track machines used for mechanical maintenance of tracks. “Maintenance of track machines was  done at Cantonment Station earlier but the space was inadequate.  Hence they are being shifted here,” said Divisional Railway Manager (DRM), South Western Railway, Mahesh Mangal.

Shelters needed

The long-standing problems here continue, though efforts are being undertaken to redress them. The urgent requirement is platform shelters at five of its six platforms. Only 40 per cent of the platform space is sheltered presently. Platform-1 is totally uncovered while the joint platforms of two and three, four and five have only one side covered. Passengers are put to hardships especially when it rains, as happened on Monday.

Responding to this, the DRM said that a considerable portion of the Rs three crore sanctioned in the Railway budget for Yeshwantpur will be spent on erecting shelters. However, even after that only 60 per cent of the space will get covered.

Another area of concern is the uneven ground surface on the platforms and the numerous potholes. Those carrying stylish luggage with wheels will be in for a rude shock. Improvement work is going on at Platforms 4 and 5.

Bathrooms

On the positive side, the bathrooms on Platform-6 were a pleasant surprise. Not only were the bathrooms in the ‘Ladies’ section maintained well (clean mirror, wash basins and pleasant wall colour), they were also kept under lock and key, in sharp contrast to those at City Railway Station. However, this reporter spotted maintenance staff of a contracted agency cleaning their utensils in one of the baths. This can be stopped in the interest of passenger safety and privacy.

There is definitely a need for similar bathrooms on other platforms. Children were seen openly defecating on the foot-over-bridge leading to Platform-1. This is the only other platform with bathrooms but they are located inside the waiting rooms. Mangal informed that bathrooms were ready for Platforms 2 and 3 but are yet to become operational.

New building

Two major necessities missing at this station—cloak room and retiring rooms—will find place in the new building on Platform-6, to be inaugurated this month. It will house an A/C lounge and two separate waiting rooms for men and women. The booking office will be shifted here too and a food plaza is also being planned.

What is really commendable is that Yeshwantpur station scores higher than City or Cantonment stations on the cleanliness front.