Govt plans Delhi model for stations' upgrade

After inviting private companies to modernise New Delhi railway station in partnership with the public sector, the Ministry of Railways plans to soon implement this strategy for other major railway stations like Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Patna, besides some smaller stations in an around Delhi like Bijwasan and Kapashera.

A senior railway ministry official said a separate division in the ministry would be set up to take care of the modernisation of major railway stations. As part of the process, tenders from global design development firms would be called for Patna railway station by April-May, sources said.

Meanwhile, the pre-request for qualification (RFQ) conference for New Delhi railway station today was attended by at least 35 domestic and a few international companies.

These included Reliance Energy, Reliance Infrastructure, Emmar-MGF, DLF, DS Constructions, ICICI Venture, L&T, GMR and GVK. All these companies have shown interest in bidding for the Rs 5,000-crore project.

New Delhi railway station is proposed to be modernised on a built-operate-transfer model in phases and the project will be awarded to a buider or a consortium by July. In the first phase, it would get a facelift by 2010, when Commonwealth Games take place, a railway ministry official said.

According to the plan, the station will have three levels "" the first for train arrivals, the second for departures, while the third will have a waiting lounge. The station will also get food plazas, ATM machines and shopping malls . Each floor will be connected by escalators.

"We are encouraged by the pre-RFQ conference. Since modernisation of major railway stations will involve a lot of work, a separate division will be formed to handle such projects. It will include a number of officials from the railway ministry," a senior rail ministry official said.