JOIN USRly stations to rival airports
The Railways on Wednesday floated a new public sector organisation, Railway Station Development Corporation, to modernise stations in the country. In its first phase, the corporation will take up stations in Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai and Bangalore.
Spelling out the concept of modern stations, Railways Minister Dinesh Trivedi said, “Modern stations should look like airports and would be functional centres.”
The new PSU has come up as a special purpose vehicle (SPV) after IRCON International Limited and Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA) signed an MoU on Wednesday.
It is proposed to provide the identified stations with well-designed concourses, high quality waiting spaces, easy access to the platforms, congestion-free platforms, state-of-the-art catering facilities, hotels and other amenities.
The redeveloped stations would be disabled passenger-friendly and would have provision for convenient entry, inter-platform transfer and easy access to all facilities for physically-disabled persons and senior citizens. They would also be provided with waste disposal facilities to improve hygiene and cleanliness. De-congestion would be a priority. For that, arrival and departure will be segregated as in airports, Trivedi said. Roof plaza and green environment are the other things that are being planned to make the stations vibrant, he added.
Existing vendors would not be displaced, Trivedi said. Besides, the modernisation programme would not burden passengers. The revenue will come through private investments by way of public-private partnership. Trivedi said it would be an imperative to have modern, functional stations which would be customer-oriented and equipped with proper circulation area and railway operation facilities.
The Railways has sent letters to state governments and local bodies to improve areas surrounding the stations and approach roads leading to them. The property and assets of the entity will remain with the Railways.