The visually-challenged commuters travelling on Western Railway (WR)will soon find it easy to locate compartment meant for handicaps, asthe administration has decided to fix special chequered blocks on allthe platforms. Earlier,platforms had no indications for the visually challenged to reach thehandicaps’ compartment. Many visually challenged people would countpoles at railway platforms to find their way. AniruddhaSanglekar, visually challenged since childhood, who travels betweenMalad to Churchgate everyday, said, “Railways have indicators on trainsand platforms for compartment for the handicapped. But the blind needeither audio or physical indicators to locate the same.” “CentralRailway had introduced an alarm at all its platforms to solve theproblem. However, at some stations the alarms were not working. Thecontinuous sound of the alarm was also creating a nuisance for otherpassengers,” said Sushil Chindarkar, another visually challengedcommuter travelling on suburban trains. The Western Railway installed special chequered blocks at its Churchgate station on an experimental basis. Anofficial from WR said, “To indicate the handicaps’ compartment on theplatform we fixed chequered blocks in a two-meter-wide area so thatvisually challenged people could easily feel the chequered area withtheir feet and locate their compartment.” With the successfulimplementation of the project, Western Railway has now invited tendersto fix these chequered blocks at all platforms. “The work willbegin in the next three months and is expected to finish within threemonths thereafter,” said Pranai Prabhakar, chief public relationofficer of WR. WR has also decided to install these checkeredblocks at the edges of each platform to avoid accidents that take placewhile people try getting off running trains.  Braille aid for commuters InPhilippines and Singapore, the Rail Transit Services are especiallydesigned for the elderly and the differently-abled. It has Brailletactiles along the lanes and elevators to help blind passengers. Adotted path leads from the entrance, through the gates to the elevator(with braille buttons) on to the platform. Corners and stopping pointson the path are marked out with a different pattern.