Passengers’ woes at Madurai Junction

The junction is one of the important landmarks as all trains going to the southern districts pass through Madurai. But some of the essential services are lacking and thousands of passengers are left in the lurch. The display board at the western entrance of the railway station is non-functional. Passengers who enter the station by this gate would have no idea about the timings of the trains and platforms on which they would arrive at or depart from. 

Ravi, a senior citizen from Chennai, who travelled from Madurai to Chennai on Saturday night by Chennai weekly special train, claimed that the train was on Platform 4 and when he went to the station there was no announcement on the screen at the western entrance. He had to go to the other end of the station to get details and he said there was no escalator, he said.

Similarly, the western entrance has no basic amenities like toilets and drinking water. The passengers have to go to Platform No 1 which they find very difficult to do. Also, two scanners, one at the eastern entrance and another near the escalator close to the eastern entrance, are lying idle without any personnel manning them. 

When contacted, a higher official attached to commercial operations department of Southern Railway, who is in charge of the railway station, claimed that the operation of the display board was handed over to a private company from July 20. 

He said he had called the private company and directed them to set right the display board. About the scanner systems, he said the issue was raised at the recent meeting and will be resolved soon.