Mysore/Mysuru: The Passenger Amenities Committee (PAC), constituted by the Ministry of Railways (MoR) at the National level under the Chairmanship of P.K. Krishnadas to check the passenger amenities provided at Railway Stations and on board trains, inspected Mysuru City Railway Station on Feb. 24.  

The Committee comprising the Chairman and four members inspected the various amenities provided at the Station for the passengers like waiting rooms, current booking and advanced reservation offices, pay and use toilet in the circulating area,  parking facilities, foot over-bridge, escalators and lifts, security and surveillance system, catering and miscellaneous stalls and others. 

The Committee expressed satisfaction over the scale of amenities and the high standard of cleanliness maintained at the City Railway Station. The Committee also interacted with rail-users at the Station to get a first-hand feedback on how they felt about the facilities provided at the Station.  

Speaking on the need to have a greater emphasis on women’s safety in Railway premises and on board trains, the Committee wants the Railways to step up vigil in areas such as subway by deploying more number of Women Railway Protection staff and also enhance ticket checking staff to instil confidence in rail-users.  

The Committee was also in favour of  installation of baggage scanners and metal detectors at the main entry of the Station. However, in view of multiple entries to City Railway Station and en route boarding this may not be completely effective, they opined. 

Later in the day, the Committee held discussions with Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) Aparna Garg on several key issues relating to passenger amenities. Garg highlighted that the failure by the Indian Railway Catering & Tourism Corporation Ltd. (IRCTC) to finalise the contract for setting up a Food Plaza in the Station as the main reason for the station still not having a full-fledged round-the-clock-catering services. ‘This is  pending since September 2019 and affecting passengers’ comfort, the DRM said and added that completion of passenger amenity has been affected due to shortage of grant. The Committee noted this and assured to take up these issues at a higher level.  

The Committee also inspected Srirangapatna Station which incidentally is a very historic place from the point of view of tourists. Several representations were submitted to the Committee seeking stoppage of trains at the Station. The Committee wanted these matters to be examined holistically taking into account the operational and safety issues involved.  Additional Divisional Railway Manager, A. Devasahayam, Sr. Divisional Commercial Manager, S.G.Yatish and other senior Branch Officers of Mysuru Division were present during the inspection.