Bhubaneswar: A total of 57 railway stations in Odisha have been identified for upgradation and modernisation under the Indian Railways’ Amrit Bharat Station Scheme.
Under the scheme, the selected railway stations under East Coast Railway (ECoR) zone will be developed with improved amenities for passengers.
The railway stations included Angul, Badampahar, Balangir, Balasore, Balugaon, Barbil, Bargarh Road, Baripada, Barpali, Belpahar, Betnoti, Bhadrak, Bhawanipatna, Bhubaneswar, Bimlagarh, Brahmapur, Brajrajnagar, Chatrapur, Cuttack, Damanjodi, Dhenkanal, Gunupur, Harishanker Road, Hirakud, Jajpur-Keonjhar road, Jaleswar, Jaroli, Jeypore, Jharsuguda, Jharsuguda Road, Kantabanji, Kendujhargarh, Kesinga, Khariar Road, Khurda road, Koraput, Lingaraj Temple Road, Mancheswar, Meramandali, Muniguda, New Bhubaneswar, Panposh, Paradeep, Parlakhemundi, Puri, Raghunathpur, Rairakhol, Rairangpur, Rajgangpur, Rayagada, Rourkela, Sakhi Gopal, Sambalpur, Sambalpur city, Talcher, Talcher Road, and Titlagarh Jn.
The upgradation work has already started at some major railway stations. In the first phase, 25 railway stations have been selected for redevelopment under the Amrit Bharat Station Scheme, a release from ECoR said on Tuesday.
The stations are Sakhigopal, Mancheswar, Dhenkanal, Chhatrapur, Angul, Palasa, Meramandali, Balugaon, Lingaraj Temple Road, Talcher Road, Khurda Road, Kantabanji, Bargarh Road, Hirakud, Rairakhol, Barpali, Muniguda, Balangir, Harisankar Road, Mahasamund, Bhawanipatna, Khariar Road, Vizianagaram, Duvvada and Damanjodi.
Of 25 railway stations, 11 railway stations (Sakhigopal, Mancheswar, Dhenkanal, Chantrapur, Angul, Palasa, Meramandali, Balugaon, Lingaraj Temple Road, Talcher Road, Khurda Road) will be upgradeded under the scheme in Khurda Road division, another 11 railway stations (Kantabanji, Bargarh Road, Hirakud, Rairakhol, Barpali, Muniguda, Balangir, Harisankar Road, Mahasamund, Bhawanipatna, Khariar Road) will get a facelift in Sambalpur division and three railway stations (Vizianagaram Junction, Duvvada, Damanjodi) will be developed in Waltair railway division of ECoR.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lay the foundation stone for the redevelopment of 500 stations, including these 25 under ECoR, under Amrit Bharat Scheme through video conference.
Work for different infrastructural projects is progressing on war footing basis and some have been completed, recently. Altogether, Rs 547.7 crore will be spent for redevelopment of above 25 railway stations under ECoR. The station wise expenditure are mentioned below.
The Amrit Bharat Station Scheme, launched by the Railways in 2022, now covers 1309 railway stations across the country for upgradation to transform the travel experience.
The scheme envisages improvement of building, integrating the station with both sides of the city, multimodal integration, amenities for Divyangjans, sustainable and environment friendly solutions, provision of ballastless tracks, ‘Roof Plazas’ as per necessity, phasing and feasibility and creation of city centres at the station in the long term.
The scheme aims at development of railway stations on a continuous basis with a long-term approach. It involves preparation of Master Plans and their implementation in phases to improve the amenities at the stations like improvement of station access, circulating areas, waiting halls, toilets, lift/escalators as necessary, cleanliness, free Wi-Fi, kiosks for local products through schemes like ‘One Station One Product’, better passenger information systems, Executive Lounges, nominated spaces for business meetings, landscaping etc. keeping in view the necessity at each station, the release added.
