Karmali named most tourist-friendly station

Mumbai: Karmali railway station in Goa, on the Konkan Railway (KR) route, has been selected by the Ministry of Tourism as the most tourist-friendly station in the country in view of its environs and facilities.

Karmali is one of the busiest railway stations on the KR route, with hundreds of tourists alighting at the station daily to proceed to Goa's capital Panaji, which is about 25km away.

The station bagged the Award of Excellence in the category of "Most Tourist- Friendly Railway Station" for its passenger amenities that surpass the norms prescribed by the Indian Railway Board.

For a 'D' class station, Karmali has 2 high-level platforms, 18 drinking water taps, instead of 6 as prescribed, 48 square metres of waiting hall, instead of the 30 sqm as recommended, 193 seats on the platforms for passengers, much higher than the recommended number of 50, 1,294sqm of platform shelter instead of 50sqm, trees along the length of the station and one pedestrian overbridge.

A pre-paid taxi counter has also been provided at the station for the convenience of passengers.

The station has computerised ticket booking facility, tea stall, general stall, milk parlour, parking area, a Goa Tourism Department Corporation information counter, porters and luggage trolley, two ticket booking windows and other facilities.

The Ministry of Tourism confers National Tourism Awards and Awards of Excellence every year to recognise the efforts of government and private sector units for achieving excellence in the tourism sector.

Meanwhile, with the summer holiday rush about to start, KR has nearly 250 more special trains on its route to meet high demand.