40 railway stations in state to get a facelift

Ranchi: Close to 40 railway stations in the state will be overhauled in terms of infrastructure and passenger amenities in the coming months under two different schemes of the Union ministry of railways.
Rairangpur railway station in Odisha, which is the hometown of President Droupadi Murmu and comes under Chakradharpur division, will also get a facelift.
The Centre on December 27 announced the ‘Amrit Bharat Station’ scheme under which commercially viable stations (in terms of greater footfall) will be given an overhaul in passenger amenities. Every railway division has been directed to identify 15 railway stations.
The Ranchi railway division of the South Eastern Railways (SER) has shortlisted Lohardaga, Muri, Jhalida (Purulia in West Bengal), Namkom, Ramgarh Cantonment, Suisa, Silli, Gangaghat, Tantisilwai, Bano, Piska, Tulin, Orga, Govindpur Road and Balsring railway stations.
Similarly, the Dhanbad railway division of the East Central Railways (ECR) has identified Garhwa Road, Daltonganj, Koderma, Gomoh, Latehar, Parasnath, Paharpur, Hazaribag Road, Katrasgarh, Choupan, Renukut, Nagar Untari, Garhwa Town, Barkakana and Chandrapura railway stations.
Of the 15 stations identified by the Chakradharpur railway division of the SER, eight are in Jharkhand. They are Chakradharpur, Sini, Rajkharsawan, Manoharpur, Chaibasa, Barajamda junction, Gamharia and Dangoaposi railway stations.
The master plan for these stations will include the provisioning of roof top plaza, cost efficient facade development and soothing porches, building good quality waiting halls, building cafeterias, landscaping, executive lounges for hosting small business meetings, Wi-Fi connectivity, elevation of platforms and other amenities.
“The focus would be on infrastructure development to the tune of Rs 7-8 crore per station. That apart, there will be other plans for redevelopment of bigger stations such as Tatanagar, Hatia, Ranchi and Dhanbad with bigger budgets (above Rs 300 crore),” Manish Kumar Pathak, the senior divisional commercial manager of Chakradharpur division, said.
While the Rs 447 crore redevelopment project of Ranchi railway station is at the DPR (detailed project report) stage, the Railway Land Development Authority (RLDA) is planning a project for the redevelopment of Hatia railway station. “The project is to be implemented by the RLDA and it is in the nascent stages at the moment,” Pradeep Kumar Gupta, the divisional railway manager of Ranchi, said.
Sources said the Hatia redevelopment plan would include building two platforms, commissioning cafeterias, escalators, separate parcel handling systems, a new entrance and the development of existing facade.