Hyderabad: Palnadu Express, first disabled-friendly train

Hyderabad: The Guntur-Vikarabad Palnadu Express starting from January 18will be the first train to be equipped with foldable ramp and wheelchair for differently-able passengers.

The South Central Railways has taken up the initiative to make boarding and alighting easy for passengers with limited mobility and senior- citizens. The ramp will enable pushing the wheelchair into the coach and the wheelchair itself will allow mobility in the narrow aisles of all coaches.

The challenge was to make a wheelchair comfortable for disabled passengers and also be compact enough to get through the doors of all coaches, especially 3AC coaches which are a little narrower. Passengers can meet the station master and ask for a wheelchair.