Modernisation/Upgradation of Railway Stations

‘Model’ station scheme was in vogue from 1999 to 2008.  Initially one station per Division of Indian Railways was selected under the scheme.  In the year 2006, the criteria were revised to include all ‘A’ and ‘B’ category stations on the basis of the annual passenger earnings under the scheme.  Under this scheme 594 stations were selected for upgradation. Out of these, 590 stations have already been developed.  As regards, the remaining 4 stations, Sambalpur Road Station & Alnavar station have been dropped from the scheme, while Ultadanga and Mal Bazar Stations have been closed.

‘Modern’ station scheme was in vogue from 2006-07 to 2007-08.  Under this scheme, 637 stations were selected for upgradation which has already been developed.

 Presently, Railway stations are upgraded/modernized under ‘Adarsh’ Station Scheme based on identified need of providing better enhanced passenger amenities at stations. Under ‘Adarsh’ Station Scheme, 1253 stations have been identified for development, out of which 1181 stations so far have been developed. In the state of Uttar Pradesh, 152 stations have been identified under Adarsh Station Scheme and out of these 128 stations have been upgraded/developed under this scheme. In the state of Haryana, 16 stations have been identified under Adarsh Station Scheme. Against this, 15 stations have been upgraded/developed and the remaining stations are targeted to be developed under Adarsh Station Scheme by 2020-21.

Further, under soft-upgradation scheme, 68 stations have been substatantially upgraded over Indian Railways during 2018-19. Various passenger amenities which, inter-alia, include improvement to façade of the station building, retiring room, waiting room (with bathing facilities), separate waiting room for ladies, landscaping of circulating area, earmarked parking, signages, Pay & Use toilets, Foot Over Bridge, ramps at entry to station etc. have been provided at these Railway stations as per the respective category of the station depending upon need, volume of passenger traffic and inter-se priority, subject to availability of funds.

Besides this, upgradation/modernization of stations on Indian Railways is a continuous and on-going process and works in this regard are undertaken as per requirement, subject to inter-se priority and availability of funds. However, priority for upgradation/modernization of stations is accorded to higher category of station over lower category of station while sanctioning and executing the work.

Also, “Station Redevelopment” is planned by leveraging real estate potential of sparable land and air space in and around the stations, inviting private participation.  For this, Railway conducts techno-economic feasibility studies of stations across the country.  Based on the outcome of these feasibility studies, stations are taken up for redevelopment in phases.  The selection of developer is done following a transparent and competitive bidding process.  The work of redevelopment is in advanced stage at Gandhinagar (Western Railway) and Habibganj (West Central Railway) railway stations.  Contracts have been awarded for redevelopment of Gomtinagar (North Eastern Railway), Anand Vihar (Northern Railway), Bijwasan (Northern Railway) and Chandigarh (Northern Railway) railway stations.

This press release is based on information given by the Minister of Railways and Commerce & Industry, Shri Piyush Goyal in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today.