he redevelopment and modernisation plan for Delhi’s Anand Vihar and Bijwasan railway stations is set to take off soon.
After Anand Vihar, bids have now been received for the Bijwasan redevelopment project and the railway authorities claim that the response has been excellent with many big names vying to get the project.
The modernisation work will be carried out by the Indian Railway Stations Development Corporation Limited (IRSDC), a Special Purpose Company (SPC) created for the redevelopment of stations, which is a joint venture of Ircon International Limited (IRCON) and Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA). Apart from Anand Vihar and Bijwasan in Delhi, the IRSDC has been assigned the redevelopment of Chandigarh, Habibganj (Bhopal), Shivaji Nagar (Pune), Surat and Gandhinagar (Gurajat) and SAS Nagar (Mohali) stations.
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At these stations, the IRSDC plans to upgrade passenger amenities, renovate platforms and improve circulating area. The cost of the upgrade is expected to come from commercial use of space around the stations.
Both Anand Vihar and Bijwasan railway stations are expected to become major transit hubs for Delhi. The Anand Vihar railway station is located close to an inter-State bus terminal and a Metro station, while Bijwasan is situated close to the Indira Gandhi International Airport. The IRSDC aims to provide seamless connectivity to passengers between these different modes of transport.
“We have received nine bids for the Bijwasan railway station from reputed firms. The bids for application for Anand Vihar were invited on February 22 and we received 13 bids,” said a senior IRSDC official.
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“The bids are under evaluation at the moment, which will take some time. After that we will go for Request for Financial Proposals and the entire process will take about three to four months,” he said.
The official said that the work on the redevelopment of these two stations is expected to begin in 2016 itself. These two stations are expected to take the load off Delhi’s major railway stations such as Delhi Junction, New Delhi, Hazrat Nizamuddin, Sarai Rohilla, etc., which have reached their saturation point. These two stations are expected to cater to two lakh passengers a day after their redevelopment. The Bijwasan station is expected to cater to passengers from Gurgaon, Dwarka, parts of West Haryana and also some parts of South Delhi, travelling towards western India. Anand Vihar is already handling many trains destined towards the eastern parts of the country and will be able accommodate more trains and passengers post-modernisation.