Bhubaneswar: Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has announced the modernisation of around 200 railway stations and 24 among them are in Odisha under East Coast Railway (ECoR), where foot-overbridges, waiting halls, parking lots and other amenities for passengers would be upgraded.
The selected stations are Angul, Balugaon, Berhampur, Bhadrak, Dhenkanal, Jajpur-Keonjhar Road, Keonjhar, Khurda Road, Mancheswar, Paradip, Talcher Road and Talcher (all under Khurda Road railway division); Jeypore, Koraput and Paralakhemundi under Waltair division and Jharsuguda Road, Sambalpur City, Rairakhol, Kantabanji, Titlagarh, Kesinga, Bhawanipatna, Bargarh Road and Balangir under Sambalpur division.
According to ECoR sources, waiting halls and VIP lounges will be added to these stations to ensure a better experience for passengers. Bitumen top road with reinforced concrete cement (RCC) drain, pathways, portico cover shed as well as entry and exit gates will be constructed.
Besides parking lots, the existing station buildings will be renovated and landscaping carried out around these. Electrical fittings, as well as illumination of areas, signal and telecommunication work, will also be done, the sources added.
Notably, ECoR general manager (in-charge) Sharad Kumar Srivastava had recently said that stations with airport-like facilities have been envisaged for Puri, Bhubaneswar, Visakhapatnam and Cuttack.
