Make all platforms disabled-friendly by April: Bombay High Court to Western, Central railways

The Bombay High Court has directed the Central and Western railways to make all the platforms disabled-friendly by the end of April. The court has asked the railways to provide ramps for the disabled, signages for the blind, railings on foot over bridges and low height ticket windows, so that the diabled face no difficulty while boarding a train.

In addition to that, a bench headed by justices AS Oka and Prakash Dev Nayak observed on Thursday, "The height of the platforms should be raised by August 2017."

The court has asked the railway authorities to raise the height of platforms from Churchgate to Virar and the Central Railways plaforms upto Kalyan by August 2017.The platforms of stations beyond Kalyan and Virar are to be raised by December 2017.

There are nearly 26 stations in Central and two in Western Railways that have only one platform and tracks on both sides, making it dificult for the disabled. The Central Railways has now volunteered to develop 14 railway stations. As per the The Persons with Disabilities Act, 1995, the disabled are entitled to all facilities.