Mumbai CST redevelopment: Piyush Goyal says terminal is Indian Railways’s pride; not altering its facade, structure

While commenting on whether restructuring railway stations would impact the cultural heritage of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CST) in Mumbai, Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal said that the redevelopment of the terminal will not lead to alteration of CST’s “facade, structure or beauty.” According to a report by PTI, Goyal termed the station as pride of Indian Railways and assured no damage to the beauty during its development under the PPP model. He highlighted that the station will be getting more facilities and at the same time, its heritage part would be maintained.

The statement came during Question Hour at Parliament while replying to supplementaries. The report citing Goyal noted that the minister is particular about redevelopment of stations and highlighted that their local identity, traditional look as well as cultural aspects will not be damaged. For the redevelopment, consultations are taken from some local heritage experts.

According to the minister, there is a large crowd who tries to enter the station or exit during peak hours and the ministry is making efforts to resolve this. Segregation of entry and exit points will provide some benefit to the passengers. The development will be done on the Demello road side and therefore, there will be no impact on the heritage side of the station, said Goyal.

Citing the recent development around Habibganj station, Goyal emphasized that the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus will also be developed on those lines giving boost to convenience of travel within the station. Passengers will also receive better facilities, he added.

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Meanwhile, the government is also trying to rope in the Pune station of central Railway in the redevelopment plan. The Bhubaneswar railway station is also under redevelopment. The ministry is also working on the identified stations in Odisha and is preparing their DPRs. Goyal also said that the Railway Ministry is trying to redevelop railway stations via private sector participation under Public Private Partnership mode (PPP). While Habibganj redevelopment is at an advanced stage, work at Gomti Nagar station is also under process. Further, the government has finalised Request for Qualification (RFQ) for eight stations – Amritsar, Dehradun, Sabarmati, Nagpur, Gwalior, Tirupati, Puducherry and Nellore. Further, RFQs have been invited for three stations. These stations include New Delhi, Chattrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus and Ernakulum. Apart from this, the ministry has also awarded redevelopment contracts for Safdarjung and Ajni (Nagpur) stations.