Excelsior Correspondent
NEW DELHI, Feb 8: Jammu Railway Station is among the 23 Railway Stations of the country which will be transformed under the first phase of the world’s largest Station Redevelopment Program launched by Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu at Rail Bhawan, through Video Conferencing here today.
Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment, Krishan Pal Gurjar, MP Jammu -Poonch Lok Sabha Constituency, Jugal Kishore Sharma, Chairman Railway Board , A K Mital, Member Engineering Railway Board, Aditya Kumar Mittal, Member Traffic Railway Board, Mohammed Jamshed besides other Board members and dignitaries were present on the occasion.
With the launch of Station Redevelopment Program the Jammu Railway Station will get a face lift and the passengers will be provided all amenities and services in line with best railways stations, official sources said.
Sources said with the redevelopment of Jammu Railway Station the passengers will get amenities like other 23 railways stations which have been taken for redevelopment under first phase. The facilities provided to the passengers after redevelopment include digital signage, escalators, elevators, self ticketing counters, executive lounges, luggage screening machines, walkways, holding areas for passengers, grand and distinctive roofing and flooring, free and paid Wi-Fi etc, sources added.
Speaking on the occasion, Minister of Railways Suresh Prabhu said that the Railways have certain advantages out of which one is holding of land on a large scale. He said the Railway Stations is a place where lots of people wait to board a train and thus they (Railway Stations) can be developed into an iconic property. The properties of the Railways have a unique characteristic, he added.
He said that Ministry of Urban Development is collaborating with the Ministry of Railways to develop smart stations because such stations are pre requisite for becoming a Smart City. The project of re-developing 400 A1 and A Category stations in the country is the biggest non fare revenue generating program which will be done on PPP model through a fair bidding system conducted by the respective Zonal Railways, he added.
The Union Minister said the first phase, 23 stations will be bid out and redeveloped to the fullest use where so many facilities can be enjoyed by the passengers at one place. He also issued instructions to general managers/DRMs through video conferencing to collaborate with the State Government for re-development of Stations.
In his welcome address Chairman, Railway Board A K Mital said “our effort for last 10 years will see a culmination as we launch the first lot of stations for redevelopment through public -private partnership. These stations have been selected for this phase after detailed feasibility studies carried out by the strategic advisors for redevelopment The Boston Consulting Group, he added.
He said that Railways Mission is to redevelop railway stations using the surplus revenue that will be generated from commercial development of spare railway land.
Speaking on the occasion Jugal Kishore Sharma complimented Suresh Prabhu for including the Jammu Railway Station for redevelopment in the first phase.
Sources said the Railway Board has devised an innovative plan to provide the amenities through PPP model by leveraging the real estate available at the railways stations. With an overall size of one lakh crore , the program is one of the largest PPP programmes undertaken in the country, sources added.
The program will provide approximately 2,200 acres of prime land to the private developers across top 100 cities of the country. A Committee of eminent experts would be formulated to provide suggestions to Zonal Railways on proposals submitted by the bidders in addition to the technical and Financial Committee recommendations, sources said.
The Commercial potential of this vacant Railway land at and near the stations will be leveraged to develop world class stations with no additional funding required from the Railways. The Program is expected to generate a surplus n excess of Rs 10,000 crore for the Indian Railways which can be invested in other modernization projects. The select high potential stations will be made as iconic stations and will be developed as per highest global standards and design norms, sources added.
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