Poor footfall at Pune station’s Rs 16 crore foot overbridge worries officials

It was supposed to enhance passenger mobility, but the new foot overbridge at Pune railway station has instead thrown up a mystery: Not many seem to be using it.
Inaugurated on August 15 last year, the 122-metre long, Rs 16-crore structure was built to span platforms 1 to 6. It was better, wider and sturdier than the old FOB, but railway officials told TOI that it just hasn’t found its share of fans when compared to the older, narrower FOB.

Rail authorities, confounded by the problem, have now announced certain measures they believe could boost usage, which they said was found to be “not at par with expectations”.
“Passengers are moving from the old to the new FOB. But the pace of this shift has has been slower than what was expected,” a source from the Pune railway division said.
“It would be difficult to say exactly why people are not using the new FOB enough, but we believe it comes down to force of habit. What we know for sure is that the new FOB, which is also the broadest such structure in all of Pune division, is not being used enough by passengers. And that’s a cause for concern.”
There are a total of 42 FOBs across the Pune rail division.
Officials said they were now hoping a slew of fresh measures can boost use.
“A total of five escalators were recently installed along the new FOB to enhance mobility and convenience. Also, there are proper signboards and displays that have been set up urging passengers to use the FOB rather than crowding its older counterpart, which is narrow. We are hoping the escalators will help draw more passengers, thereby increasing use,” another source from the Pune rail division said. The official added that the technical problems that had plagued some of the new escalators have been fixed.
“There were certain technical issues with some of the escalators, but they are all working fine now. In future, we will look for other ways to boost footfall on the new FOB.”
The Pune station, one of the oldest and busiest rail transit points in the region, has about two lakh passengers passing through it every day.
Officials said they were wary of stampede-like situations on the older, narrower FOB especially during the peak hours.
“The passengers have been reminded often that the new FOB is better in every way than the older one,” a senior official said.
“When the new structure was not there, people used to take the old one which too is linked to all the platforms. And several times, there have been situations where the crowd turned unmanageable. In fact, we have had to deploy personnel from the RPF to regulate traffic. We are now truly banking on the new escalators and are hoping the machines will help us divert some of the passenger traffic to the newer FOB. Both ends of the new structure have escalators. Another escalator has been set up between platforms 2 and 3,” the official said.
In March this year, all 42 FOBs in the Pune division were declared structurally sound by railway officials who added that the primary focus was ensuring the structures are not overcrowded.