Passengers travelling on Western Railway (WR), in near future, can hop into a posh restaurant, relax in a special lounge room, take part in recreational activities or enjoy shopping with their favourite brands at 28 stations.
This will be possible after completion of a station redevelopment plan cleared by the Centre.
The Union Cabinet recently approved redevelopment of more than 400 railway stations on 'as is where is' basis. Of these, 28 stations are under Western Railway.
Once the redevelopment project is complete, passengers travelling on WR can step into a posh restaurant, relax in a special lounge room, take part in recreational activities or enjoy shopping with their favourite brands at these stations, a WR statement said here today.
For this purpose, six 'A-1' category and 22 'A' category stations of WR have been identified. The 'A-1' category stations consists of Mumbai Central (Main), Bandra Terminus, Surat, Vadodara, Ahmedabad and Rajkot.
'A' category stations comprise Anand, Ankleshwar, Bharuch, Bhavnagar Terminus, Chittorgarh Jn, Gandhidham, Indore, Jamnagar, Mahesana, Nadiad, Nagda, Navsari, New Bhuj, Palanpur, Ratlam, Surendranagar, Udhana, Ujjain, Valsad, Vapi, Veraval and Viramgam, the statement said.
These stations are generally located in metros, major cities, pilgrimage centres and important tourist destinations.
The redevelopment would be carried out through open invitation from interested parties with their designs and business ideas.
"This approval will enable the Ministry of Railways to accelerate the redevelopment of 'A-1' and 'A' category stations. It will also encourage innovative ideas from interested parties at no cost to the Railways," it said.
Redevelopment of identified stations is to be undertaken through the Indian Stations Development Corporation (IRSDC).
