Wide gap appears in the cost of CR and WR escalators

Mumbai: An RTI query has revealed a steep difference in terms of cost per escalator for central and western railway. Activist Anil Galgali found that cost per escalator for CR ranged from Rs 50 to Rs 70 lakh whereas cost per escalator for WR went up to Rs 1.08 crore.

Mr Galgali said that he had asked for a probe into the finding. "Railway administration has started work on installation of escalators for commuters at railways stations to provide better facilities. However, cost of purchase and installation of these escalators differs for CR and WR,” he said.

The RTI query revealed that 14 stations on CR had 20 escalators installed, with total cost Rs 119,060,388.

Whereas the cost of eight escalators installed at stations - Dadar, Thane, Dombivali and Kalyan — went up to Rs 4.35 crore. “This means that for one escalator, the cost comes up to Rs 5,437,500 lakh. The escalators installed at Ulhasnagar, Bhandup and Vidyavihar cost Rs 30,993,750 crore, implying that the cost per escalator came to Rs 7,748,437.50 lakh,” he said.

For WR, a total of 34 escalators were installed at 13 stations. “One escalator on an average costs Rs 1.08 crore - if the contract is given to the same company, how come there is a difference in cost? I have demanded a probe into the same,”  Mr Galgali said.

CR chief public relations officer Narendra Patil said, “There is a RTI query about escalator cost at different stations by Mr Galgali. There is a notion that all escalators should be of the same cost. But cost of escalators differs as per their size.”

“There are factors that decide the size of the escalator such as height of foot-over-bridge, landing on platform or outside on the road, and width of platform, and some escalators have been bought in 2014 while some have been purchased in 2017.”