Gandhinagar Station a technology marvel, epitome of passenger's comfort: Railway Board Chairman

New Delhi [India], July 15 (ANI): Gandhinagar Capital Railway Station, which has been redeveloped by Indian Railway Stations Development Corporation (IRSDC) and Government of Gujarat jointly, is now ready to serve the nation with modern amenities, said the Chairman and CEO, Railway Board, Suneet Sharma today.
During a press briefing, Sharma said that Indian Railways has made a giant leap in the Station Redevelopment program as Gandhinagar Capital Railway station is set to offer modern services to the Nation.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the newly developed Gandhinagar Capital Railway Station on Friday.
Sharma also said that the redevelopment of the Gandhinagar Capital Railway Station will act as a city booster and create an investment cycle, job opportunities and in general uplift the economy of Gandhinagar as well as Gujarat also.
"This is a unique project taken up in partnership with Government of Gujarat and Ministry of Railways through IRSDC forming a joint venture company named GARUD (Gandhinagar Railway and Urban Development Corporation)," he said.
Notably, it is the first of its kind project in India and will pave the way for similar development in land stressed cities like Mumbai and Bangalore. As a part of this mission, work on the redevelopment of 125 stations is in progress. Out of this, IRSDC is working on 63 stations, and RLDA is working on 60 stations with two stations being taken up by zonal railways.
The total investment for the redevelopment of 123 stations along with real estate development is more than Rs 50,000 crore.
Sharma said that the station is future-ready, and the concourse will be used for departing passengers when the passenger numbers increase at the station. Also, in the near future, it is planned to open retail, food and entertainment outlets in this area to serve the demands of the passengers as well as the local population.
The redeveloped station will function like a "city centre rail mall" where travel will be one of the several functions that it will serve.
Redeveloped Gandhinagar Capital Station offers an accessible environment for the divyangjan and has lifts and ramps at all locations. Other facilities like tactile flooring are also provided.
According to Railways, the station is also equipped with modern facilities like ample waiting spaces, through the columnless roof to provide protection against sun/rain etc, air-conditioned multipurpose waiting hall, baby feeding room, improved signages and modern toilets, interfaith prayer room for the common man.
Without the concourse, the redeveloped station has been designed to handle 1,500 passengers in peak hour. With the concourse, the capacity will go up to 2,200 passengers in the peak hour.
The station aims to conserve the naturally built environment, through the use of sustainable materials like Portland Pozzolana Cement, fly ash bricks etc. and reducing the water, electricity requirements through energy-efficient designs, rainwater harvesting and recycling of water.
The Chairman and CEO, Railway Board informed that Gandhinagar Railway Station is the Indian Railway's first station to have adopted the 'Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC)' model for redevelopment.
"The column-free sleek and economical space frame of the 99-meter span over the platform, which is the longest such span in Indian Railways comprising 120 Kg/Sqm steel only with weatherproof seamless aluminium sheeting is provided at the redeveloped station," he stated.
Daily changeable theme-based lighting with 32 themes is one of the key highlights of the Gandhinagar station which is the first-ever on Indian Railways. The concept behind the themed lighting as planned for Gandhinagar Railway Station is to use the redeveloped station as a big canvas. (ANI)