Piska terminal to be made into satellite railway station

Ranchi: Ranchi MP Sanjay Seth, along with other lawmakers of the state capital region, on Monday laid the foundation for phase 1 for revamping the Piska railway station terminal.
The work under the project will be executed by the Ranchi railway division and will include the construction of a new station building, setting up of an interlocking system, laying an additional loop line, signals, creation of parking and other passenger amenities.
Talking to TOI, the chief project manager (Gatishakti), Satish Kumar, said that phase 1 of the project is estimated to cost around Rs 39 crore and that they are eyeing to finish the work within the current fiscal.
He said, “The idea is to develop Piska terminal as a satellite station of Ranchi so that we can reduce the load on Ranchi and Hatia railway stations to improve train movements, passenger amenities and add more connectivity.” Kumar also said all big cities already have such satellite stations.
“For example, in Delhi, there is Anand Vihar terminal beside the main railway station and Nizamuddin station among others,” he said.
Once ready, trains from the south that are bound to cross over the northern railway can use this bypass without taking the trouble of coming to Ranchi or Hatia railway stations.
“Moreover, goods train from, say Rourkela, requiring to go towards the northern railways' route can easily be diverted through this bypass. Currently, the lack of such a bypass is making Ranchi and Hatia stations face a huge traffic load, resulting in unwanted detention of trains,” he said, informing that they are also working simultaneously for phase-II work of the project.
“The second phase will include the creation of Lodhma-Piska bypass measuring 17.2km stretch and one more platform at Piska. It requires land acquisition in certain pockets and the modalities of which are being worked out,” he added.
Besides Seth, others who were present at the formal foundation laying ceremony included BJP’s Rajya Sabha MP Deepak Prakash, his counterpart from JMM, Mahua Maji, Hatia MLA Naveen Jaiswal and other senior railway officials.