Chennai: The concourse area of heritage Chennai Central station is no more the gloomy pan-stained government building it used to be. With a dozen transparent synthetic roofing sheets, railway maintenance engineers have given the waiting area a near-new-look. Also, hygiene level has improved like never before and the waiting area has been using less electricity since last month.
Southern railway (SR) has achieved this not by hiring some expensive energy-cum-design consultant but by merely replacing a few ‘opaque’ roofing sheets with transparent synthetic roofing sheets that allowed natural light to enter, thereby making illumination better in the concourse area. Since then, engineers have been turning on the 75 lamps in the concourse area an hour late, at 6.30 pm.
According to a rough estimate, SR saves 20-30 units of electricity from the one-hour delay alone. Senior SR officials, who admitted to the old ‘faded’ roofing sheets rendering a gloomy look, told Deccan Chronicle that the utilities are more visible and better illumination has also discouraged littering, particularly spitting at the station which records a footfall of over 1.5 lakh people daily. “We see people (travellers) looking around furtively and finally reaching the garbage bins. Improved lighting has made them shy away from littering,” the officer added.
“Even we got to know the actual texture of the floor only after seeing it in natural light. Maintenance workers clean it a lot better now,” said an SR maintenance officer at Central station, requesting anonymity. The roofing sheet replacement was a part of the 100-day programme or rather a 10-point programme the ministry had prepared to make better the quality of service, particularly on board trains and at stations, after the new government took over in May.
Egmore station would also under roofing refurbishment shortly. Replacement of the roofing sheets was conceived after engineers, during a recent inspection, found the lamps turned on even during day. In fact, Chennai Central is not new to such energy-conservation initiatives. Back in 2011, SR first introduced LED bulbs at this heritage station which helped saved 300 units of electricity daily.
