AS the newly introduced Linke Hofmann Busch (LIB) railway coaches said to be designed for the differentlyabled were not in-cluded in the Rockfort, Pandian and Cholan Expresses causing difficulty, the Tiruchy railway divisional authorities have now come up with portable ramps to aid the disabled as per the directions of the State Commissioner for the Differently-abled. The portable ramps would now be available at all important rail-way stations of the division where the trains stop. The ramps with the assistance of the porters and the railway po-lice in the railway station would help people in the wheel- chairs and the battery cars by blocking an exclusive bay in the general coach. According to the divisional railway authorities, TMN Deepak Nathan, founder-president of 'December 3rd Movement', sought reasonable accommodation, temporarily, for differently-abled persons on trains where Linke Hofmann Busch (LHB) type second class luggage rake for disabled (SLRD) coaches are not available, especially in Pan-dian and Rockfort Express trains. Since 114B coaches from Inte-gral Coach Factory production-line were introduced in 2017-18 the court directed the setting up of wheel-chairs and temporary ramps in stations in Tiruchy, Ma-durai and Chennai-Egmore. A senior divisional authority in Tiruchy said the temporary lightweight ramps with wheels have been made for the differently-abled.
In Tiruchy alone, there would be a total of three ramps, Srirangam 2, Ariyalur 2 and Villupuram 2 where the trains would be making a halt. The authorities said the Rail-way Police Force, Government Railway Police and daily wage porters have been asked to assist the differently-abled by blocking a bay exclusively for them while boarding the train. "Wheel-chairs across the important railway stations have also been provided for the differently-abled passengers to use them. The public can call the services of 138 and also the station master who is available at the station round-die-clock. The wheel-chairs have also been designed so they can navigate freely in the rakes," officials added.
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