T3-like upgrade for Anand Vihar

Shopping joints, food stalls, restaurants, book stalls, medicines and variety stores, ATMs and budget hotels — the Anand Vihar railway terminal is in for a major makeover.

Shopping joints, food stalls, restaurants, book stalls, medicines and variety stores, ATMs and budget hotels — the Anand Vihar railway terminal is in for a major makeover.

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Anurag Sachan, divisional railway manager (DRM) of Northern Railway (Delhi), told Hindustan Times: “The plan will be executed on a public-private partnership (PPP) model. Two stations, Anand Vihar in Delhi and Bijwasan and Haryana — in the Northern Railway’s jurisdiction — have been chosen for the upgrade.”

He said, “Facilities at the stations will be provided the way it has been done at the Terminal3 of Delhi’s international airport. Till now such facilities were provided only at airports. Now we will do the same at railway stations as well.”

A railway ministry communiqué said several leading brands, retail, hotel chains and developers have expressed their interest in “multi-functional complexes” being developed by the Railway Land Development Authority (RLDA). Prominent among them are Pantaloons, Cafe Coffee Day, The Loot, Woodland, Apodis Hospitality, Krishnan Palace Residency and WH Smith (Travel News Services).

The DRM said, “RLDA generates non-tariff revenue from railway land. The Anand Vihar project will be executed through Indian Railway Stations Development Corporation Ltd., a joint venture created by IRCON — a company set up under the Ministry of Railways for execution of railway projects and RLDA.”

Many real estate consultants such as Knight Frank, IL&FS, PWC, E&Y and JLLM are advising RLDA in planning and marketing the MFC/commercial sites. Inaugurated in 2009, the Anand Vihar Railway Terminal caters to all east-bound trains from Delhi. Long-distance trains from Delhi used to ply from three stations — Delhi Junction (Old Delhi), New Delhi and Hazrat Nizamuddin. These stations could not handle the rush.

“Also, trains from all these stations had to cross Yamuna all the three stations are located on the other side of the river,” said an official.