Suggestions for the train stations:
- Please design every train station so that people are encouraged to follow queue system. This is especially necessary for buying tickets.
- Please install 2 to 4 automatic ticket vending machines at every station. These machines should be able to accept cash and credit cards.
- Please encourage local artists & poets to design decorations for the stations. They can design benches, shades, wall decorations, posters with short poems, etc. Please don't cover every available part of the station with commercial advertisements only.
- Please also design major stations to have LCD screens which show:
- Train and bus time-tables.
- A dynamic map of Bangalore (similar to Google maps) showing the location of all trains and major buses in real time, using GPS technology.
- Please install security cameras at all the railway stations. These cameras should record 24 X 7. Recordings more than one week old can be erased.
- Please also design 'park and ride' type of train stations, especially near out-lying areas. These should be stations which provide ample and secure parking place for people to park their vehicles there and use the train to commute. If necessary, these parking areas can be restricted to people who use the train daily - employed people and students.
Suggestions for the trains themselves:
- Please install security cameras INSIDE the train compartments. These cameras should also record 24X7. Impose strict fines and penalties on anybody who damages or defaces train property.
- Please design a maintenance center where EVERY train compartment will be washed and cleaned EVERYDAY, both INSIDE and OUTSIDE. Please don't allow the compartments to gather dirt like the Indian railways trains.
I hope Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation is seriously looking into these and similar suggestions from the general public. I hope at least a few of these will be implemented.
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Excellent suggestions but they seem damn near impossible to me but then again I only remember the train ride from Bombay to Mathura on Indian Railways in '88!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Zen. I think that except for the queue system, all other suggestions can be implemented pretty easily.
ReplyDeleteEnforced queue system is possible, but it won't be very efficient in railway stations, where the train stops for just a few minutes and everybody is expected to pile on in a hurry.
However, they can and should enforce queues at the ticket vending machines... or else there will be unholy jostling all around it.
Wonder if there has been a concept called as a "Tourist Metro". A metro which would be dedicated to show the important areas of Bangalore...like Vidhana Sowdha, Cricket Stadium, Lalbagh,Cubbon Park, MG Road etc. Better revenue for Govt and individual organisations would want the metro to visit their areas (like cubbon park). They could make money out of it as well.
ReplyDeleteMaybe it could have better seating arrangements.....much like the Volvo buses but on a metro?
Methinks that easy access and facility (to the station from courtyard and to any track from thereon) for the elderly and physically challenged is very important. I find it heart-wrenching to see so many of them struggle climbing up stairs to reach other platforms in a normal railway station.
ReplyDeleteDecent and clean toilets - it can be a paid facility, but should be designed for handling large crowds and should be clean.
Atleast 1 or 2 ATMs in each station.
Focus on people able to stand comfortably inside the train, rather than filling up with a lot of seats. Seating should be minimal and mostly for the ladies and elderly, while a lot of space inside for standing.
jammy97,
ReplyDeleteFor tourist purposes shuttle buses are better suited. However, most Indian cities are still struggling to provide proper bus facilities for local commuters. I don't know if they will be able to provide a good bus commute experience for tourists.
On a related note, there are proposals / plans for smaller feeder rail lines which will connect to the main Metro Rail in Bangalore. These smaller lines will bring people from places which are not connected by the main line. Don't how long it will take for them to implement those.
LL
Anonymous,
ReplyDeleteVery good suggestions. I second all of them. I hope you sent your email to them.
I thought of the accessibility for handicapped people suggestion a day after I published this blog post. They should design the trains as well as all the stations keeping accessibility in mind.
I don't know if you have ever visited the US. The amount of thought given in all public places to help handicapped people easily access the facilities is amazing. Of course, there is a national law here which mandates this. Public buildings and facilities won't get clearance unless they provide proper options for handicapped people.
Thanks for your comment.
LL
waiting for ur nextpost.
ReplyDeleteme