Indian Railways to invest Rs1 lakh crores in redevelopment of 400 stations

New Delhi (Urban Transport News): The Indian Railways has started working to provide world-class facilities at its railway stations to people. The work is already under implementation at stations like Habibganj Railway junction (in Bhopal) and Surat Railway station in Gujarat among others. To implement the station redevelopment projects the Government has set a separate SPV namely Indian Railway Stations Development Corporation (IRSDC) Limited. The Indian Railways have planned to develop 10 stations in the first phase by equipping them with airport-like facilities. The names of identified stations are Charbagh, Gomti Nagar, Sarai Rohilla, Kota, Thane, Mandgaon, Ernakulam, Nellore, Tirupati, and Puducherry. The Indian Railway Stations Development Corporation (IRSDC)  has already started the redevelopment works at these stations. For this, tenders are already awarded to the National Building Construction Company (NBCC) which has prepared the design for the redevelopment of stations. The deadline to complete the redevelopment works of the Charbagh Railway station (in Lucknow) is fixed for 2020 with an approximate cost of Rs 600 crore. According to the sources, the total cost of redevelopment of all these 10 stations has been estimated at Rs 5000 crores. All these nominated stations will have facilities like malls, shops, food courts, and commercial spaces. The NBCC is also planning to build affordable houses on the land nearby redeveloped railway stations. According to the Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal, these railway stations will not only improve passenger amenities but will improve the connectivity and change the lives of people. Benefits of the redeveloped stations

• 24x7 Multi-model transport connectivity into Railway Station is peerless with any other locality for businesses.
• After the station redevelopment increase of Railway passenger footfall into many folds.
• In near future, the Commercial Office spaces, IT Towers, Hotels & Residential apartments will attract the people from nook and corner of the city.
• The intelligent space design with wide corridors, Sky-lights, Atriums, Escalators and landscaped open areas, hassle-free basement parking would increase the comforts to shopaholics.
• The stations will be equipped with ultra-modern facilities/services with integrated Buildings Management systems and Green Building features shall generate positive energy into building/spaces.

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