India will get two 'airport-like' railway stations at Gandhinagar and Habibganj by Jan 2019

India will get its first two "airport-like" railway stations in Habibganj and Gandhinagar by January 2019. The two state-of-the-art railway stations will come as a part of the railway station redevelopment programme which has been allocated Rs 1-lakh crore.

The railway stations will be ready for opening within nine months - the Habibganj station at Madhya Pradesh will be done by December 2018 while the Gandhinagar station at Gujarat will be ready by January 2019, said Indian Railway Station Development Corporation (IRSDC) Managing Director and CEO SK Lohia.

"The entire responsibility of maintenance and revenue generation from these stations lies with the IRSDC and we have to make sure that these stations are revenue surplus and to the extent that it can be invested back in the maintenance and development of the station," said Lohia.

The main aim of refurbishing the railway stations is to ensure that they can generate enough revenue which can be used for the maintenance and development of the stations.

How the Habibganj railway station is being redeveloped

• The entire Habibganj Station redevelopment project will cost around Rs 450 crore which includes a glass-dome like structure and facilities such as food plazas, cafeterias, and a plush waiting lounge
• Of this, Rs 100 crore would be spent on station redevelopment and Rs 350 crore on commercial development

Glass dome planned at the entrance of Habibganj railway station.(image source: bansal pathways)

• Maintenance cost of the station will be around Rs 4-5 crore a year once the station is complete
• The station will generate revenue of Rs 6.5-7 crore per annum, which should increase to Rs 10 crore per annum as per plans
• Other amenities at the station will include 600 additional waiting benches, cleaner toilets, retail areas
• Lohia informed that ideas such as video-game zones, virtual museums were also being explored as part of the railway station redevelopment plan

How the Gandhinagar railway station is being redeveloped

• The Gandhinagar station is a Rs 250-crore redevelopment project which is an SPV between the IRSDC and the Gujarat state government and will have a 5-star hotel with 300-rooms as its centre piece right above the tracks
• The ground floor of the hotel will be 22 metres above the ground and it will have three buildings, combined to give the shape of petals

Petal shaped buildings planned at the Gandhinagar railway station.(image source: IRSDC)

• The station will finish being redeveloped in a record two years of time after its foundation stone was laid by the PM in January 2017
• According to Lohia, 42 per cent of the civil work has already been completed and it will be ready in time to hold the Vibrant Gujarat Summit in January 2019, he said
• The railway station will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi

(With inputs from PTI)