Minister of State for Railways Shri Rajen Gohain has conveyed that the Indian Railways has advertised its plan to redevelop ‘A-1’ and ‘A’ category stations on ‘as is where is’ basis, by inviting proposals from developers with their designs and business ideas. The facilities proposed in a redeveloped station include congestion free non-conflicting entry/exit to the station premises, segregation of arrival/departure of passengers, adequate concourse without overcrowding, integration of both sides of the city wherever feasible, integration with other modes of transport systems e.g. Bus, Metro, etc., user friendly integration signage, well illuminated circulating area and sufficient provision for drop off, pick up and parking etc. Station redevelopment projects will include the needs of the disabled/physically challenged persons. It will provide facilities for the divyang.
Based on detailed discussions held with the Zonal Railways, feedback from various stakeholders and field visit to certain identified stations, first phase of station redevelopment program by Zonal Railways was launched on 08.02.2017. Bids for redevelopment of the 23 Railway Stations have been invited in the first phase. Bids for Jammu Tawi station have been opened on 12.07.2017.
Further, a dedicated organization viz. Indian Railway Stations Development Corporation Limited (IRSDC) has been set up to undertake redevelopment of stations to international standards. 12 stations viz. Amritsar, Anand Vihar (Delhi), Bijwasan (Delhi), Baiyappanahalli (Bengaluru), Chandigarh, Gandhinagar (Gujarat), Gandhinagar (Jaipur), Gwalior, Habibganj, Nagpur, Surat and Shivajinagar (Pune) have been entrusted to IRSDC for redevelopment.
As these projects are complex in nature and require detailed techno-economic feasibility studies, no time frame has been presently set for completion of these projects.