Bangalore: In what could be a forward leap for certain time-warped facilities in Indian Railways, ten major stations in metro cities and important junctions will be developed as per international standards to become world class stations.
This was stated by India's Minister of State for Railways, Manoj Sinha, in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha, Indian parliament's house of elected representatives.
Given the pitiful state of such stations and junctions, the modernisation step is sure to be perceived as a godsend by the travellers. Indian Railways would be developed with state-of-the-art facilities, leveraging land and air space in and around the stations.
Though a similar concept was first thought of and subsequently introduced by the then Railways Minister, Mamata Banerjee in her 2009-10 budget to include 50 stations, later increased to 60 stations, not much headway was made except certain stations that saw some initial work.
Sinha said these stations will be raised to international standards, equipped with modern facilities and passenger amenities through public private partnership (PPP) mode.
It will cover superior service to passengers, wi-fi connectivity, smooth and safe road traffic flow to and from the station, adequate parking facilities, real and perceived security of high standards, surveillance of CCTV, multi-functional complexes, food courts, shopping facilities etc.
A dedicated organisation, Indian Railway Stations Development Corporation Ltd. (IRSDC) has been set up to undertake such station redevelopment projects.
Stations to be redeveloped are to be identified based on adequacy of land, redevelopment cost, expected returns from real estate development, capacity of approach infrastructure to handle enhanced traffic, etc.
Such projects require detailed techno-economic feasibility studies and statutory clearances from local authorities. Though railways have been making sustained efforts towards expediting various issues, no targets can be indicated.
As the entire cost of the station redevelopment is to be met by commercial development on a PPP mode, no railway funds are required to be allocated
This was stated by India's Minister of State for Railways, Manoj Sinha, in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha, Indian parliament's house of elected representatives.
Given the pitiful state of such stations and junctions, the modernisation step is sure to be perceived as a godsend by the travellers. Indian Railways would be developed with state-of-the-art facilities, leveraging land and air space in and around the stations.
Though a similar concept was first thought of and subsequently introduced by the then Railways Minister, Mamata Banerjee in her 2009-10 budget to include 50 stations, later increased to 60 stations, not much headway was made except certain stations that saw some initial work.
Sinha said these stations will be raised to international standards, equipped with modern facilities and passenger amenities through public private partnership (PPP) mode.
It will cover superior service to passengers, wi-fi connectivity, smooth and safe road traffic flow to and from the station, adequate parking facilities, real and perceived security of high standards, surveillance of CCTV, multi-functional complexes, food courts, shopping facilities etc.
A dedicated organisation, Indian Railway Stations Development Corporation Ltd. (IRSDC) has been set up to undertake such station redevelopment projects.
Stations to be redeveloped are to be identified based on adequacy of land, redevelopment cost, expected returns from real estate development, capacity of approach infrastructure to handle enhanced traffic, etc.
Such projects require detailed techno-economic feasibility studies and statutory clearances from local authorities. Though railways have been making sustained efforts towards expediting various issues, no targets can be indicated.
As the entire cost of the station redevelopment is to be met by commercial development on a PPP mode, no railway funds are required to be allocated
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