RailEnquiry

Hyderabad: The automated escalators at Secunderabad Railway Station are new and unfamiliar to the public. Getting on and off them is proving to be a bit of a problem. They are even leading to minor accidents as passengers are yet to adjust to the sophisticated escalators and often land up bumping into each other.

These escalators are manned by security staff at ground level during the day, but later there is simply no one to supervise the passengers and keep them from rushing on to the escalators in a bunch. Especially  first-time users and passengers who come  from rural areas lose their footing and stumble while getting off the escalators, which is leading to minor accidents.

Another drawback is that those on the escalators have a limited ability to see the other end, due to the shed that has been put on the escalators that touch the foot overbridges on a few platforms.

A week back, at the escalator on  Platform No. 10, a large family of 10-20 members got stuck at the top with heavy luggage. This caused passengers following them to literally bump into them. The frantic shouting of  passengers in distress were heard by security staff after a couple of minutes and the escalator was stopped.

“This averted a stampede which could have led to several casualties, given the metal steps and proximity of the platform,” wrote a DC reader, Mandar V. Deshmukh.