Indian Railways Habibganj, Gandhinagar stations to be world-class! Redevelopment of 123 stations in progress

Redevelopment of stations is a priority agenda of Piyush Goyal-led Railway Ministry. This Indian Railways’ agenda is being driven with full force by the Modi government with the participation of private players as a part of (Public-Private Partnership) PPP projects. Currently, work on the redevelopment of 123 railway stations is in progress, out of which, IRSDC is working on 63 railway stations, while RLDA is working on 60 stations. As per current estimates mentioned by the Railway Ministry, the total investment needed for the redevelopment of 123 railway stations along with real estate development is approximately Rs 50,000 crore.

Recently, the Railway Minister reviewed the progress of Habibganj and Gandhinagar railway stations. These stations are being revamped with facilities at par with airports as well as Multi Modal Hubs and commercial development harmonious with the development of city. During the review, Goyal advised that lessons learnt during these station redevelopment projects should be taken into consideration during design or construction of future projects. The minister also suggested that while the railway station looks beautiful, the national transporter should strive for use of better materials, as it proceeds further.

Habibganj station is being redeveloped under PPP mode by IRSDC. Once redeveloped, the station will boast features such as ‘passenger segregation based on arrivals/departures’ leading to congestion free movement at station platforms and concourse. It will have ample sitting arrangement at concourse, platforms, adequate parking, lounges, dormitories and retiring rooms, along with Divyang-friendly amenities like escalators, lifts, travelators. The redeveloped station building will have the latest features of safety, security and information like Fire Safety, Scanning Machines, Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA), PA systems, CCTVs, Access control, modern Signage as well as information displays. It is being revamped as per LEED ‘Green Building’ norms with the utilization of energy-efficient equipment, solar energy, wastewater treatment for reuse.

The Gandhinagar station is being revamped by GARUD, an SPV established with equity contribution of Gujarat government and IRSDC in the ratio of 74:26 respectively. It is a first-of-its-kind project in the country with an exclusive 5-star Hotel over rail tracks. The Gandhinagar railway station boasts column-free platform roof spanning 105 meters, which is the largest in the Indian Railways network.

Redevelopment work of stations, at present, have been initiated in Nagpur, CSMT and Ajni stations in Maharashtra; Habibganj and Gwalior stations in Madhya Pradesh; Gomti Nagar and Ayodhya stations in Uttar Pradesh; Sabarmati and Gandhinagar stations in Gujarat; New Delhi and Safdarjung stations in Delhi; Dehradun station in Uttarakhand; Tirupati and Nellore stations in Andhra Pradesh; Amritsar station in Punjab; Ernakulam station in Kerala and Puducherry station in UT of Puducherry.