According to reports on Friday, the railways would put 16 stations up for bid under the public-private partnership (PPP) model for renovation purposes, with a tender published over the next two months. One of the stations is the Anand Vihar Terminal.
Tambaram, Vijayawada, Dadar, Kalyan, Thane, Andheri, Coimbatore Jn, Pune, Bangalore City, Vadodara, Bhopal, Chennai Central, Delhi Hazrat Nizamuddin, and Avadi are the other stations that will get renovations.
The railways want to put these stations up for bid this year.
These train stations will be updated to provide travelers with better accessibility and fundamental amenities. To support the private sector, several monetization strategies are being investigated.
The first phase is intended to renovate 199 stations with daily traffic of 50 lakh.
At a press conference earlier this month, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw stated that the plans for the renovated stations feature a large roof plaza with all passenger amenities in one location and shopping places, cafeterias, and recreational facilities.
The goal is to finish rebuilding the New Delhi station in three and a half years, Vaishnav said, adding that work is already ongoing at 32 stations while the tender for 47 stations is out.
This marks a significant shift in the method used by the railways to renovate stations; before, New Delhi, Ahmedabad, and CST Mumbai stations were renovated using the “engineering, procurement, and construction” (EPC) method.
This might increase the cost of platform tickets and other railroad services.
