New Delhi/Bhubaneswar: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lay the foundation stone for redevelopment of 508 railway stations, including 25 in Odisha, at 11 am on August 6 via video conferencing.
These stations will be redeveloped under the ‘Amrit Bharat Station Scheme’, entailing an investment of more than Rs 24,470 crore.
The 25 railway stations in Odisha will be redeveloped with a sum of Rs 547.7 crore. These 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 stations, the East Coast Railway (ECoR) had earlier informed.
Besides Odisha, the selected stations are spread across 26 states and union territories, including 55 each in Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, 49 in Bihar, 44 in Maharashtra, 37 in West Bengal, 34 in Madhya Pradesh, 32 in Assam, 22 in Punjab, 21 each in Gujarat and Telangana, 20 in Jharkhand, 18 each in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, 15 in Haryana and 13 in Karnataka, among others.
The scheme involves preparation of Master Plans and their implementation in phases to improve the amenities at stations like improvement of station access, circulating areas, waiting halls, toilets, lift/escalators as necessary, 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.
It also envisages improvement of building, integrating the station with both sides of the city, multi-modal integration, amenities for disabled, 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 design of the station buildings will be inspired by local culture, heritage and architecture, sources said.
So far, 1,309 railway stations have been identified under the Amrit Bharat Station Scheme. Among these, 57 railway stations in Odisha will undergo a major makeover. These stations are 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, Titlagarh Jn, according to the ECoR.
