Persons with disabilities want barrier-free access to Alandur Metro station

Persons with disabilities have raised concerns about the challenges they face while using Alandur Metro Rail station, and demand barrier-free access.

In the phase I network, Alandur is an important transit station where corridor 1 and corridor 2 meet, allowing commuters to switch between two Metro lines.

Since this station was built with entry/exit points on one side of the GST road (located in the direction of traffic from Guindy to Tambaram), a foot overbridge with escalators and lifts was built a few years after its inauguration.

Sathish Kumar, a wheelchair user said, when he travels by a low-floor bus from Tambaram, he gets off at Alandur, opposite the station entry/exit. Then he boards the lift on the footpath and travels to the station. “While there is a ramp on the footpath leading to the lift, there is none from the road to the footpath. This means, I must depend on someone to lift me up along with the wheelchair. This makes it very difficult for a disabled person like me,” he said.

Besides, when he leaves the station entry/exit using the ramp, there are bollards on the footpath barring access to disabled persons. He urged the authorities to make the station accessible from both sides of the GST Road.

M. Selvam, another disabled person who uses battery-operated wheelchair said, on two occasions when he came to board the train from Alandur station from the GST Road, he could not use the foot overbridge to access the station. “Without a ramp, I couldn’t get onto the pavement or use the foot overbridge. I had to go all the way to the point where there was a crossing available and then come back to the station. After that, I no longer go to the Alandur station. I travel between Ashok Nagar and Chennai Central stations alone,” he said.

According to officials of Chennai Metro Rail Limited, the bollards were placed to prevent the parking of unauthorised vehicles. They said they would take steps to remove the bollards and build a ramp from the road to the footpath. “We will raise the issue with the Greater Chennai Corporation, and ensure that the obstacles are removed at the earliest,” an official said.