Hyderabad: Now onwards, passengers arriving at the Secunderabad Railway Station will be facing hardships as the railways has planned to temporarily close a few platforms phase-wise due to the ongoing redevelopment work being carried out in the station.

According to sources, the platform closure will take place phase-wise, with only platforms 5 or 6 spared for 13 days, and after that, 4 or 5 will be spared for 50 days. Likewise, only two platforms will be spared for construction activities, whereas eight other platforms will be available for train operations.

Earlier, the South Central Railway, due to the ongoing redevelopment works at Secunderabad Railway Station, has diverted approximately 70 trains from Secunderabad to Cherlapalli, Kacheguda and Nampally railway stations. Several trains will be departing from Cherlapalli instead of the Secunderabad Railway Station. To safeguard of the rail passengers from this temporary inconvenience, the South Central Railway (SCR) has made arrangements to run trains from several stations across the city.

A huge two-storied sky concourse is going to be built at the station as part of the redevelopment project. This concourse will have all the facilities for passengers, such as restaurants, kiosks, escalators, lifts, foot over bridges, etc. Plans are made to connect all the sky concourses. A huge 500-tonne capacity heavy-duty crane is being installed between Platforms Nos. 5 and 6. For this, the gap between the platforms will be filled with sandbags, and construction work will be carried out with the help of a crane, said an officer.