The 50 world class railway stations with concourses modelled on airport-like swanky retail spaces for commuters to wait, to be built under the Indian Railway Station Development Corporation (IRSDC), will be completed by 2022.
Phase I of the Habibganj railway station in Madhya Pradesh, being redeveloped on the lines of Germany’s Heidelberg railway station in the public-private partnership (PPP) mode by the IRSDC, will be the first to be commissioned, in February next year.
Holding areas in all platforms of the station, commercial establishments, a bus terminal, office lobbies, service apartments outside the station, hotels, hospitals, spas and a convention centre figure in the ₹450-crore project that will be carried out in association with the Bansal Group. Bansal Group will maintain and operate the station for eight years.
“We are going ahead with commissioning the redeveloped Gandhinagar station taken up in the EPC mode in February next year. Our aim is to redevelop the first 50 stations by 2022,” Managing Director and CEO of the IRSDC Sanjeev Kumar Lohia told The Hindu here.
For redevelopment, each station needs ₹150 to ₹200 crore. “We are not selling the railway land and government is also not going to invest. The redeveloped stations will be on a par with the airports and it will spur city development. It will be gateways to cities,” he said.
The IRSDC, a joint venture of the Rail Land Development Authority and IRCON, has been appointed as the nodal agency for redevelopment of railway stations by giving sweeping powers, including planning and development, in conformity with provisions of the Railway Act, 1989 and other applicable laws. It has been entrusted with all stations, except the 27 entrusted by Railways to various organisations.
Mr. Lohia said the EPC contract would be awarded in January for the redevelopment of the Anand Vihar, Brijwasan and Chandigarh railway stations. The tenders for Baiyyappanahalli, Nagpur and Gwalior would be floated by February. The projects for the Sabarmati, Amritsar, Udhana, Surat and Thakurli railway stations are in various stages.
Redevelopment of major stations is being taken up by leveraging commercial development of land and air space in and around the station. Mr. Lohia said the IRSDC would ensure that the development of stations was cost-neutral to railways on an overall basket of identified stations while preparing the business plan.
