With the view to make the railway station and train journey easier and comfortable for the visually-impaired people, the Southern Railway has installed Braille navigation maps at the entrance of Dr MGR Chennai Central and Egmore stations in Tamil Nadu.

With aid of these maps the visually impaired travellers can navigate concourse areas and platforms independently and also access passenger amenities and more importantly not depend on others to move around.

Measuring 3 x 3 feet, the Braille map has been installed at the entrance of the stations. It enables the users an overview of the railway station while allowing access to basic facilities available at the station. Guiding the visually-impaired passengers to move around the station premises it allows them to access water taps, ticket counters, waiting rooms, concourse area, differently-abled friendly toilets, cloakrooms, platforms, foot over bridge, entry and exit points.

The Braille boards and signages have QR codes that can be scanned by passengers using smartphones to activate audio messages leading them to the destination of their choice.

These maps have been put up by Renault Nissan and Standard Chartered under their CSR initiative.

The railway officials are keen to have such Braille maps and other signages at Tambaram, Chengalpattu, Arakkonam and Katpadi railway stations soon.

Checkered and tactile tiles have already been installed on the platform edges to make them safe and secure for visually impaired passengers while Braille signages have been put up to allow them to access passenger amenities.

Also read: South India’s oldest railway station Royapuram in Chennai celebrates 166th anniversary