Delhi’s Tilak Bridge, Gurugram in nationwide railway revamp

On Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi kick-started an ambitious scheme to revamp the country’s rail transit landscape

Railway stations that look and feel like international airports, facilities such as water ATMs, modern restrooms, food courts, shopping areas, VIP lounges, LED display screens and differently-abled friendly infrastructure, these and a lot more await rail passengers in the days to come.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses the foundation stone-laying for the re-development of 554 railway stations under the Amrit Bharat Station Scheme and 1,500 road over bridges/roads under bridges via video conferencing in New Delhi on Monday. (ANI)

On Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi kick-started an ambitious scheme to revamp the country’s rail transit landscape and provide better amenities at 554 railway stations across the country. Besides these stations, over 1,500 road over bridges (ROBs) and road under bridges (RUBs) will also be redeveloped, said railways officials.

Laying the foundation stone for the “Amrit Bharat Station Scheme” in a virtual event on Monday, Modi said the project aims to significantly elevate the nation’s connectivity, and ensure better safety of both passengers and freight services.

“Whatever India does today, it does it on an unprecedented speed and scale. We dream big and work tirelessly to realise them. This resolve is visible in this “Viksit Bharat Viksit Railway” programme,” he said.

Delhi’s Tilak Bridge railway station will undergo a ₹25.1 crore revamp to get a new and upgraded facade, a separate entry and exit for passengers, a VIP lounge, LED display screens and modern signages, among other facilities, Northern Railway officials said.

A total of eight railway stations slated for redevelopment are located in the Delhi division and they are Gurugram, Faridabad New Town, Ballabhgarh, Gohana, Muzaffarnagar, Palwal and Meerut City, said official.

“The stations are also to have upgraded facades, a separate entry and exit area, along with wide foot-over-bridges for easy passenger movement. Separate pick-up and drop areas are also part of the revamp plan, besides landscaping both within and outside the station to show local heritage and art,” said Prem Shankar Jha, executive advisor to the divisional railway manager (DRM), adding that each station will also be made more differently abled friendly with facilities such as ramps at the entrance, dedicated toilets, and easy access to FOBs.

Northern Railway said the Tilak Bridge station will also get amenities such as cafeteria, modern waiting area, new platform surfacing, LED based contour lighting, LED display screens, a dedicated VIP room and a 12-metre wide foot over bridge.

The virtual foundation stone laying event in Delhi was attended by Delhi lieutenant governor Vinai Kumar Saxena and minister of state for external affairs Meenakashi Lekhi.

Gurugram station revamp

In the Delhi division, the revamp of the Gurugram railway station will be the most expensive, at an estimated cost of ₹295.28 crore.

The revamp involves the construction of a new eight-storey station building, of which the top six floors will largely be for commercial activities, Norther Railway officials said.

“There will be a 50-metre wide air concourse, a multi-level car parking facility with a basement and four floors. The Gurugram railway station will facilitate entry from both sides, have uniform signages, maps and train information systems to guide passengers efficiently. To streamline passenger movement, a segregated flow for arrival and departure is also planned,” said Jha.

Minister of state for statistics and programme implementation and Gurugram member of Parliament Rao Inderjit Singh was present at the Gurugram railway station to witness the virtual event on Monday.

The Faridabad New Town railway station will be revamped at a cost around ₹34.88 crore and will sport a new parking area, new facade and a new circulating area with segregated pick-up and drops for passengers, officials said.

MP Singh said the Haryana government has received an amount of ₹2,750 crore this year for development of railways in the state. “The upgrade of Gurugram railway station will ensure easy movement of passengers,” said Singh.

“Currently, senior citizens, women and children with luggage struggle to cross platforms. Several accidents have happened as passengers and locals cross the tracks indiscriminately. The public conveniences at present are in a poor shape,” said Deepak Kumar, a Rewari resident and frequent rail passenger.

Underpass in Sahibabad

An underpass in Sahibabad has been a long pending demand of residents of Kadkad Model, a locality near the New Delhi-Ghaziabad railway section. Residents there spend a major part of their day waiting at the railway crossing that remains closed most of the time owing to high rail traffic.

“The cost of the project is about ₹10 crore and will benefit about 10,000 residents. The underpass will be constructed with the help of push-box technology and will have seven such boxes with each having length of about 10 metres,” said Ghaziabad MP general VK Singh (retired) in a statement.

“With the underpass, residents of Kadkad Model will be able to easily connect to Brij Vihar and other localities. We currently have to use an alternate rail-over-bridge near Ramprastha and this involves additional travel,” said Sushil Raghav, resident of Kadkad Model.

In Uttar Pradesh, the 74 railway stations and 267 ROBs and RUBs are set for a revamp, the state’s information department said.

(With inputs from Abhishek Behl in Gurugram and Peeyush Khandelwal in Ghaziabad)