After Mumbai stampede, Western Railway to remove 640 bill-pay kiosks at stations

As a first step towards decongesting all the railway stations in the city, the Western Railway (WR) authorities have planned to remove the 640 bill-pay kiosks, which currently take up a lot of space on platforms and foot-over-bridges. According to sources, the process is set to start this week itself.

The bill-pay kiosks have been lying unused for last one year

A WR official said that a team had conducted a survey and made a list of the kiosks that are lying scattered across railway stations. Each of the kiosks measure around 5x4 square feet and there are about 640 of them lying at 32 locations between Churchgate and Virar stations. They are either present at entry points of railway stations, on platforms, on bridges or near ticketing offices. According to sources, a year back the railway authorities had stopped the use of these kiosks.

"We have called for bids to get the kiosks removed within five days. They will be kept at the godown of the Lost and Property Cell near Grant Road railway parcel office," a senior railway official said. Chief public relations officer of WR, Ravinder Bhakar, said that they were trying their best to decongest platforms and stations so that commuters can move about smoothly and without any restrictions.

In the last two weeks, mid-day has highlighted a number of such public utilities that have been lying unused at stations. They not only occupy large spaces but also act as a hindrance in movement of commuters. When railway and civic body teams conducted a survey following the Elphinstone stampede, such issues had come to the fore. That is when it was decided that the kiosks would be removed.