Sarai Rohilla railway station, one of city’s oldest and among the more prominent stations, will now be redeveloped on the lines of Smart City projects.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the Urban Development Ministry and Indian Railways on Wednesday. As per the MoU, areas around the station will also be redeveloped under the Smart City project. The redevelopment aims to achieve better passenger amenities, easy access, integrated public transport hubs, optimal utilization of land, etc.
At present, 10 cities will be taken up for the redevelopment with the involvement of the National Buildings Construction Corporation (NBCC). Besides Delhi, the other cities are Varanasi, Bhubaneshwar, Lucknow, Jaipur, Kota, Thane, Margao, Tirupati and Puducherry.
Sarai Rohilla is the only railway station in the Capital to be chosen for the redevelopment. According to the plan, adjoining areas of 300-acre to 800-acre will be redeveloped. In the case of Sarai Rohilla, this part of the plan is more pertinent as the congested surrounding of the station mean that travellers lose precious time just trying to reach the station.
According to senior railway officials, the exact modalities of carrying out the redevelopment plan will be arrived at soon.
Built in 1872, the railway station catered to metre gauge trains at one point, but has been seeing hectic growth over the last few years. Sarai Rohilla is one of the major railway stations from where trains to Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab and Gujarat originate or halt. In a bid to de-congest the bigger Delhi Main and New Delhi railway station, Northern Railway has also been shifting some major trains to this station, including Duronto trains.
While the railway station can be reached by New Rohtak Road, the problem for travellers begins at the narrow lanes that lead from this arterial road to the station building. The station is surrounded by gated colonies, forcing passengers to manoeuvre through them. However, the Northern Railway has been taking initiatives to help passengers reach the railway station smoothly. A new approach road was opened to the public in June. The alternative road starts from Liberty Cinema side of New Rohtak Road, leading to the railway station. The new road is 8.5 m wide and 650 m long, and has been fortified with a boundary wall too.
Apart from the new road, the railway station has also got a new covered waiting area for passengers. It can accommodate up to 300 passengers. Work is also on for a new façade for entry, separate entry/exit, booking office, parking area and cafeteria, which will come up by the end of this year.
