Eighteen upkeep depots are tasked with the job of attending to varied complaints at stations within the Chennai Division of the Southern Railway, which covers Kancheepuram, Sriperumbudur, Tiruvallur, Arakonam,Vellore and Villupuram — and two districts in Andhra Pradesh, specifically Chittoor and Tirupathi. This is apart from periodical upkeep by the unique gear producer (OEM). All lifts/ escalators are lined underneath annual upkeep contract (AMC), however they aren’t lined if the reason for fault is a slipper slipping in or every other comparable cause.
Top causes for malfunctioning
* When the emergency button is pressed unnecessarily: this implies the technical workers has to come back with keys to launch the button to get it operating once more
* Vandalism, particularly inserting slippers and different arduous objects into the escalator may cause it to get jammed
* When there may be energy supply-related points and door is distributed
* Overload
* Insufficient upkeep and faults in mechanical and electrical methods
Choosing the most suitable choice
Both the elevate and the escalators have their benefits and downsides. The former has change into a primary necessity in each station as a part of Amrit Bharat Station Scheme.
While the common price of a elevate is round ₹50 lakh, an escalator prices over a crore. The want for a elevate/escalator is determined based mostly on the variety of footfalls a station receives. For a station with a patronage of 5,000 folks, a elevate needs to be offered. If the footfall is greater than 25,000 then escalators should even be made out there. Space is an enormous constraint in sure stations in organising such a facility, so typically precedence is given to escalator that goes upward (the logic being it’s simpler to climb down). Based on advice by the business division, engineering feasibility resembling width and different parameters are studied. Civil together with electrical works take a median of 4 months for a elevate to get operating.
In numbers
Total variety of railway stations in Chennai Division: 160
Stations with lifts: 89
Stations with escalators: 69
Sanctioned lifts: 64
Work in progress (lifts):16
Sanctioned escalators:17
Work in progress (escalators):12
What is the common lifespan of a elevate/escalator?
20 years
What is the usual response time to a criticism?
The regular response time is inside 24 hours. But if the criticism warrants calling the OEM to look into it, the timeline might b stretched. Fixing an escalator-related criticism takes extra time than one pertaining to a elevate.
Evolution of lifts when it comes to expertise
CCTV cameras are more and more being connected to lifts, six MRTS stations together with Thirumayilai are at the moment getting new lifts with this security function. Real time monitoring of working of those system is developing quickly.
How ought to a criticism be raised?
RailMadad affords three choices (Web, App, SMS) to register a criticism. Passenger helpline (139), the helpline quantity pasted on the elevate/escalator, informing the station grasp and writing within the criticism e book saved at each station are among the many choices.
Questions had been answered by Electrical General Department, Southern Railway
Published – September 15, 2025 10:22 am IST
