Hand trolleys launched at Cantonment railway station

The trolleys, which were introduced at the City Railway station earlier, had received a lukewarm response with the initial opposition from the porters.

The porters suspected that the Railways would eventually allow the travellers to use the trolleys, depriving them of a livelihood.

On Wednesday, the Bangalore Divisional Railway Manager Sudhanshu Mani announced that the trolleys were steadily gaining acceptance and the number of trolleys which is 30 at the City Railway station will go up to 50 soon. There are 336 licenced porters at the City station.

“We have made it clear that we do not want the porters to carry the luggage on their heads. The issue is of indignity of carrying the luggage on their heads and not depriving them of their jobs,” he said.

There will be no reduction in fare charged by the porters as the fixed price of Rs 40 still stands.

Unlike the multiple platforms at City Railway station, which demand pathways across tracks for the movement of trolleys, the Cantonment Railway station has only two platforms.

The first platform caters to arrivals, while the second caters to departures. There are 42 registered porters in the station. Sadashivam K, a porter, said that they would be glad to have a trolley for each porter.

Yeshwantpur will be the next station to have trolleys from June. According to Mani, the ramps at Yeshwantpur are ready and more suited for trolleys as compared to the city station. The smaller stations might still take some time to introduce trolleys as Yelahanka, KR Puram and Banaswadi are looking at renovation.

 The Byappanahalli station will have train stops only after the Metro rail starts functioning and might have trolleys at that point.