The Union Cabinet on September 28 approved Indian Railways’ proposal for the re-development of three major railway stations - New Delhi, Ahmedabad and CSMT, Mumbai.
The projects, which aim to modernise railways and ease travel, involve an investment of approximately Rs 10,000 crore, said Minister of Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw at a briefing of Cabinet decisions taken earlier today.
Speaking at a press conference in New Delhi, Vaishnaw said that the project will create additional space of 15 acres in Delhi station, 15 acres in Ahmedabad, 5 acres in Mumbai.
"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," the Ministry of Railways said in a statement.
Further, the Union Minister noted that these projects are estimated to take 2.5 to 3.5 years to complete and will use modular technology. He also said that tenders for the projects should be out in 10 days.
The stations will be developed under Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) Model.
Here is a lowdown of the redevelopment project in the three major railway stations:
-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.
-Both sides of the city will be connected with the station, with the station building on both sides of Railway tracks.
-Facilities like food court, waiting lounge, playing area for children, place for local products, etc will be available.
-The stations located within the city will have a city center like place.
-To make the stations comfortable, there will be proper illumination, way finding/signages, acoustics, lifts/escalators/travelators.
-Master plan has been prepared for smooth movement of traffic, with adequate parking facilities.
-There will be integration with other modes of transportation like metro, bus etc.
-Green Building Techniques will be used, with solar energy, water conservation/recycling and improved tree cover.
-Special care will be taken to provide Divyang friendly facilities.
-These stations will be developed on the concept of intelligent building.
-There will be segregation of arrival/departures, Clutter free platforms, improved surfaces, fully covered platforms.
-The stations will be safe with installation of CCTV and access control.
These will be iconic station buildings.
Meanwhile, Vaihsnaw added that the redevelopment projects will result in creation of more than 35,000 jobs, and will improve the daily experience of more than 2 million passengers.
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