Bridgestone India rolls out disabled-friendly initiatives at Pune railway station

Global tyre leader Bridgestone India has announced that it has completed a major programme aimed at making Pune railway station friendly and easy to manoeuvre for persons with disabilities.

Bridgestone India has installed station information in Braille as well as provided scanable sign language videos on information and provided ramps for easy access to wheelchair bound passengers to coaches, making Pune railway station friendlier to people with visual, audio and mobility disability.

The station will now have Braille maps in metal that describes the entire railway station and all the facilities there. These are compact and easy for the person reading it as the entire map is the size of a normal A4 paper.  Smart phone scanable audio and sign language video QR codes have also been installed at various locations that give video-based information about the railway station. Portable ramps that empower people using wheelchairs to board the trains with dignity have also been provided.

As part of this programme the company has installed Braille Platform Indicators, Braille general signages for all the offices & facilities in the railway station. Braille Itinerary booklets have been kept at the railway ticket & information counter, besides general signage with braille at toilets and waiting rooms amongst others.

“Bridgestone prides itself as a mobility solution provider and this initiative is a solution enabling confidence and self-reliance in mobility for all.  These efforts at the railway station hope to provide independent and seamless mobility enabling our differently enabled friends to travel independently. These features also reduce the risk of being misguided as well as the risk of accidents. This is the first of such initiatives and we will very shortly be completing a similar project at Indore railway station,” said Parag Satpute, Managing Director, Bridgestone India.

We are delighted to share that in line with Govt’s Accessible India Campaign, Pune Junction station has been made more accessible for people with disabilities. We would like to express gratitude to Bridgestone India for taking up this initiative as part of their CSR,” said SC Jain, Station Director, Pune, Central Railway.

It is estimated that this would reduce the dependency of visually impaired travellers on sighted people by 50 % for finding the right platform while reducing the risk of accidents as well.

“IRSDC welcome the initiative by Bridgestone India Pvt. Ltd. and Anuprayaas. Our intent is always to improvise the passenger facilities for our station. This step will empower people with disabilities and going forward we will make Pune station more inclusive,” said Sunil Kanthan, Nodal officer, IRSDC.