The Indian Railway Station Development Corporation (IRSDC) under Indian Railways is all set to redevelop the Chandigarh railway station into a world-class transport hub on the lines of airports across the country. The Request for Proposal or RFP has already been invited for the Rs 131.40 crore project, an IRSDC official told. The completion period for the project is 24 months or 2 years from the date of awarding the contract.
The Chandigarh railway station redevelopment project will be awarded on an EPC (Engineering Procurement Construction) model. Once the station is fully revamped, passengers arriving at or departing from Chandigarh station will have to pay a user fee which will be integrated with their train ticket charges. The concept of a user fee is similar to airports, however, in the case of Indian Railways is expected to be nominal.
One of the main features of the redeveloped Indian Railways stations under IRSDC is that they will have separate gates for arrival and departure, similar to airports. The newly revamped stations will also have airport-style retail spaces for the better travel experience of passengers waiting for trains.
IRSDC is redeveloping railway stations across the country with private sector help. The first two world-class railway stations by IRSDC will be the Habibganj railway station in Madhya Pradesh and the Gandhinagar railway station in Gujarat. Both the stations are expected to be ready by the end of 2020.