Ahluwalia Contracts bags order worth ₹462 crore to redevelop Chandigarh Railway Station

Chandigarh, India (Urban Transport News): The Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA) has issued a letter of acceptance (LoA) worth Rs 462 crore to Ahluwalia Contracts (India) Pvt Ltd. to redevlop Chadigarh Railway station under Indian Railways' station redevelopment scheme. The station will be upgraded on EPC (engineering, procurement, and construction) model and redevelopment work is expected to be completed within 15 months.

“The RLDA has awarded the tender for the redevelopment of the Chandigarh Railway Station. The city will soon have a world-class redeveloped railway station with passenger amenities comparable to those found in international airports. The upgraded station will not only contribute to the city’s infrastructure growth story, but will also integrate the two sides of the city, providing a new terminal for Panchkula side and a roof plaza. The redeveloped station will act like a new city centre and play an important role in the city’s overall development,” said Ved Parkash Dudeja, Vice-Chairman, RLDA.

“The primary goals of station upgrades are to provide passengers with best-in-class amenities and to improve their travel experience. The redeveloped Chandigarh station will have separate arrival and departure areas to provide passengers with a comfortable and convenient travel experience. A 72-metre-wide roof plaza is being provided over the platforms with food plaza and retail shops where passengers can wait for their trains in comfortable ambience,” he added.

According to plan, two state-of-the-art foot overbridges (FOBs) will also be built to ensure smooth passenger movement. The redeveloped railway station will be integrated with other modes of transportation wherever possible and will be upgraded in a unifying grid system to ensure structural modularity.

The station will developed as world-class railway station like airports and it will include state-of-the-art lobbies, a food court, a paid lounge, an enquiry counter, and some office and retail space. The Chandigarh junction serves the tri-city of Chandigarh, Mohali and Panchkula, and is part of the Northern Railway zone’s Ambala Division.

Some salient features of station will be-

• 72m-wide roof for food plaza, retail shops
• Separate arrival and departure areas
• New terminal for Panchkula side
• Two state-of-the-art foot overbridges
• Paid lounge and enquiry counter
• Integrated with other transportation modes

It is worth mentioning that During the current Financial Year, RLDA has leased out 15 sites which are situated at Bangalore and Raichur (Karnataka), Liluah and Salt Golah (Howrah), Nizamabad (Telangana), Waltax Road and Egmore (Chennai), Bhopal (MP), Ludhiana (Punjab), Abu Road (Rajasthan), Bhusawal and Solapur (Maharashtra), Bareilly, Varanasi and Gorakhpur in UP for a cumulative lease premium of Rs 1,633 crore plus Railway assets valuing approx. Rs 226 crore shall be developed in Bangalore, Bhopal, Egmore (Chennai), Bareilly and Ludhiana Railway Colonies. 

The Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA) is a statutory authority within the Ministry of Railways (Govt. of India) responsible for railway land and station development.

(With ANI inputs)