The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has approved Indian Railways’ proposal for redevelopment of 3 major railway stations with an approximate total investment of nearly Rs.10,000 Cr.:
a) New Delhi Railway Station;
b) Ahmedabad Railway Station; and
c) Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) Mumbai
Railway Station is an important and central place for any city. Prime Minister Sh. Narendra Modi has given importance to stations development in the transformation of Railways. Today’s Cabinet decision gives a new direction to the station development. Work on redevelopment of 199 Stations is going on. Out of these, tenders have been issued for 47 stations. Master planning and design for the remaining is underway. Work is progressing fast for 32 stations. Today, the Cabinet has sanctioned investment of Rs. 10,000 crore for 3 big stations, namely New Delhi, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT), Mumbai and Ahmedabad Railway Stations.
The standard elements of station design will be:
1. Every station will have a spacious roof plaza (36/72/108 m) with all passenger amenities at one place along with spaces for retail, cafeterias, recreational facilities.
2. Both sides of the city will be connected with the station, with the station building on both sides of Railway tracks.
3. Facilities like food court, waiting lounge, playing area for children, place for local products, etc will be available.
4. The stations located within the city will have a city center like place.
5. To make the stations comfortable, there will be proper illumination, wayfinding/signages, acoustics, lifts/escalators/travelators.
6. Master plan has been prepared for smooth movement of traffic, with adequate parking facilities.
7. There will be integration with other modes of transportation like metro, bus etc.
8. Green Building Techniques will be used, with solar energy, water conservation/recycling and improved tree cover.
9. Special care will be taken to provide Divyang friendly facilities.
10. These stations will be developed on the concept of intelligent building.
11. There will be segregation of arrival/departures, Clutter free platforms, improved surfaces, fully covered platforms.
12. The stations will be safe with installation of CCTV and access control.
13. These will be iconic station buildings.
STATION REDEVELOPMENT IN SOUTHERN RAILWAY
The work of station redevelopment of 9 stations in Southern Railway has been entrusted to the Zonal Railway itself. The nine stations are: Chennai Egmore, Katpadi Jn, Madurai Jn, Ramesawaram and Kanniyakumari (5 in Tamil Nadu), Ernakulam Jn, Ernakulam Town and Kollam Jn. (3 in Kerala) and Puducherry (in Puducherry UT). It may be recalled that foundation stones for redevelopment of 5 stations in Tamil Nadu and 3 in Kerala were laid by Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi.
Of these 9 stations, contract work for redevelopment has been awarded to all stations barring Chennai Egmore and Kanniyakumari, and work is in progress. Tender has been opened for Chennai Egmore and under finalisation for awarding the contract. Tender has been called for Kanniyakumari station and is to be opened on 26-10-2022.
Southern Railway has also undertaken feasibility study for preparation of Detailed Project Report (DPR) for 4 stations, viz., Kumbakonam, Tirunelveli Jn (2 in Tamil Nadu), Chengannur and Thrissur (2 in Kerala).
RLDA had undertaken a feasibility study for preparation of Detailed Project Report (DPR) for 8 stations, viz., M.G. R Chennai Central, Tambaram, Avadi, Coimbatore Jn (4 in Tamil Nadu), Thiruvananthapuram Central, Varkala, Kozhikode (3 in Kerala) and Mangalore Central in Karnataka.
Further 38 stations in Southern Railway have been identified for redevelopment and techno economic feasibility study is to be undertaken after final approval from the Railway board. And work will be taken up subject to feasibility.
