Development of new railway stations in North Eastern States

Development of new railway stations in North Eastern States

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS
RAJYA SABHA

QUESTION NO 311

ANSWERED ON 23.03.2018

Development of new railway stations in North Eastern States

311 Shri Bhubaneswar Kalita
Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state :-

(a) whether Railways have finalized a new plan to develop new stations involving private players;

(b) if so, the details thereof along with the names of such railway stations located in Assam and other North Eastern States that are proposed to be developed;

(c) whether the process of identifying private players has been completed;

(d) if so, the details thereof and by when the work would commence; and

(e) the progress in implementation of work of model railway stations taken up earlier, particularly of the Kamakhya railway station in Assam?

ANSWER

MINISTER OF RAILWAYS AND COAL (SHRI PIYUSH GOYAL)

(a) to (e): A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (e) OF STARRED QUESTION NO.311 BY SHRI BHUBANESWAR KALITA ANSWERED IN RAJYA SABHA ON 23.03.2018 REGARDING DEVELOPMENT OF NEW RAILWAY STATIONS IN NORTH EASTERN STATES.

(a) & (b): No, Sir. However, in the Union Budget 2018-19 it has been announced that redevelopment of 600 major existing railway stations (including stations located in Assam and other North Eastern States) are being taken up by Indian Railway Stations Development Corporation Limited. All stations with more than 25000 footfalls will have escalators. All railway stations and trains will be progressively provided with wi-fi. CCTVs will be provided at all stations and on trains to enhance security of passengers.

(c) & (d): No, Sir. Station redevelopment projects are complex in nature and require detailed techno-economic feasibility studies and statutory clearances from local bodies. Therefore, no time-frame for implementation of the project can be given at this stage.

(e): ‘Model’ Station Scheme was in vogue from June 1999 to November, 2008. All the Railway stations identified for development under this scheme, including Kamakhya Railway station in the State of Assam, have been developed under the scheme.
Presently, development of Railway stations is taken up under ‘Adarsh’ Station Scheme. Under this scheme, 1253 stations have been identified for development. Out of these, 1050 Railway stations have been developed as per norms. Kamakhya Railway Station has not been identified for development under this scheme. However, Kamakhya Railway Station has also been developed under ‘Modern’ Station Scheme which was in vogue from 2006-07 to 2007-08.