In keeping with the development plan for rail traffic movement in the Delhi area, the Northern Railway is in the process of constructing a new rail terminal at Anand Vihar, whose first phase would be unveiled later this month. This is the first major passenger terminal in the trans-Yamuna area and will cater to East-bound trains. This terminal will have a total operational area of about 42 hectares.
For speedy planning and execution of the terminal, work has been spread into phases, of which the first phase was sanctioned in the year 2003-04 at a cost of Rs.85 crore and was originally scheduled to be completed in 2007.
Station building
The phase includes construction of station building including booking office, reservation hall, parcel and luggage office, operational and service accommodation and circulating and parking areas. There will also be three high-level platforms, two running lines in the coaching yard, two washing lines, three stabling lines, one sick line spur and washable aprons on platform lines.
Covered shelters will also be provided on the platforms and there will be a provision for sub-ways for easy mobility. For smooth movement of passengers, connectivity will be provided with the inter-State bus terminus and Delhi Metro service coming up in the area.
According to Northern Railway officials, the USP of the project is that the new station building is being designed in such a way that several facilities essential for passenger trains would be provided in the maintenance area whereby services including pasting of reservation charts on coaches, loading and unloading of catering equipment and material, bedrolls and parcels will be done prior to the train reaching the platform giving ample space for passenger movement.
The building, spread in a 6,000 sq.m. area, would provide facilities including current booking counters, a booking hall, waiting halls with facilities for handicapped passengers, cloak rooms, operational, commercial and maintenance offices, ATM, foreign exchange counters and toilets.
The building will have separate arrival and departure areas for speedy entry and exit which would ensure passenger segregation make the station congestion-free.
Some of the other features in the building include redesigned parking area to maximise land usage, touch screen enquiry system, coach-guidance system, coach-indication boards at foot over-bridges and water vending machines.
State-of-the-art facilities such as food plazas, computerised ticketing facility, retiring rooms and dormitories would also be provided in the station building.
A new passenger reservation system complex is also being developed as part of the project.
According to Northern Railway spokesperson Anant Swarup, the development of the new terminal would benefit the National Capital Region by catering to a large number of passengers.
“With increasing passenger pressure at the existing major railway terminals in the Capital such as the Old Delhi, New Delhi and Hazrat Nizamuddin railway stations, the requirement of additional major passenger terminals was identified by us. By locating this terminal in the trans-Yamuna area, the railway station will also decongest road traffic between trans-Yamuna and Delhi as passengers will be able to take their trains from Anand Vihar itself rather than to travel by roads to take the trains from the other stations located in the Delhi area,” he added.
