The Salem Division has revamped the Salem railway junction and has given it a renewed look. The Division is also planning a major revamp of the station’s second entry near platform no.5 which would get a five-storey building and a wider parking area.
The Salem railway junction was one of the 68 stations selected nationally for station development and improvement of passenger amenities here. A sum of ₹24.25 crore was allocated for the purpose in August 2018 and redevelopment of the railway station was planned as a three-phased project here.
In the first phase, improvement of facade and circulating area was planned at the junction and those works have been completed, said officials. The re-developed facade has also been given better lighting facilities. Divisional Railway Manager U.Subba Rao said, “the facade development was completed at a cost of ₹5 crore and about ₹1.25 crore was spent particularly for the lighting.”
Officials said that the landscaping area has been increased and the height of compound walls have been reduced to prevent pasting of posters on them. The re-developed facade has also included separate lanes for buses, taxis and autorickshaws and it would help in reducing traffic congestion on the junction main road.
Officials said that a tensile fabric shelter has been provided for the bus stop here. The renovated front portion also includes art work on regional highlights like Thattu Vadai set, Mettur dam, Kurumbapatti Zoological Park, Salem mangoes and a few others. A vertical garden has also been set up here which would be utilised as a selfie point.
Officials said that they have increased the height of certain areas near the entrance from the ground level to prevent water logging.
In improving passenger amenities, officials said that two LED displays have been provided at the entrance to inform about the train arrivals. Besides this, all ticket booking counters at the station have been provided with dual display fare repeaters on which passengers would be able to check the details regarding tickets before booking. Railways would also be providing two lifts and an escalator near platform no. 5.
Besides this, in phase-II , the Railways has planned to free platform nos. 3 and 4 of all official buildings and utilise it only for passenger amenities. There are about 30 offices in the platform and in phase-II, two buildings would be constructed at both ends of the platform which would house non-vegetarian and vegetarian refreshment halls, Government Railway police and RPF and lobbies for crew members.
Mr. Subba Rao said, “as part of the development of the second entry near platform 5, we are planning to construct a five-storey building here which would house all offices. Ticket and reservation counters would also be provided here and a wider parking space would be provided at the second entry. The building would also include other necessary passenger amenities.”