Kozhikode railway station redevelopment to be speeded up

High-level team to visit the facility in August; DPR to be readied for the ₹200-crore project

July 28, 2021 08:02 pm | Updated 08:24 pm IST - KOZHIKODE

A high-level team of the Ministry of Railways will reach Kozhikode next month to speed up the process for the multi-crore Kozhikode railway station redevelopment project.

M.K. Raghavan, MP, who met Ved Parkash Dudeja, Vice Chairman, Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA), in New Delhi on Wednesday said the team would reach here in the second week of August to oversee the preparation of blueprint for the ₹200-crore project.

Quoting Minister of Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw’s statement in the Lok Sabha, Mr. Raghavan said a consultant had already been appointed to study the technical and economic feasibility of the project. Apart from examining its viability, Mr. Vaishnaw said the consultant would prepare a detailed project report (DPR) and a comprehensive master plan for the railway station.

The ambitious project has been hanging fire for over a decade. The station is among the 23 facilities chosen for redevelopment in the country and the only one in Kerala to be renovated under the Swiss Challenge Method.

A fortnight ago, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had inaugurated the first airport-style revamped Gandhinagar station that was conceived under the Swiss Challenge Method.

The initial proposal was to redevelop the Kozhikode station at a cost of ₹75 crore after leasing out four sites, measuring 4.4 acres, to a successful bidder for 45 years.

The project estimate was later revised to ₹200 crore. Besides, it was taken up by the RLDA. The project had initially faced stiff resistance from various trade unions following the decision to execute it in the public-private partnership (PPP) mode.

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