Indian Railways to revamp 200 stations across India with modern facilities

Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Monday announced the modernisation of around 200 railway stations across the nation.

He announced while attending the foundation stone laying ceremony for a coach maintenance factory at the Aurangabad railway station in Maharashtra.

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"Tendering process for 47 railway stations is completed while physical work has started at 32 stations," he said. He said the railways is being transformed. "The government has prepared a master plan to revamp 200 railway stations. Overhead spaces will be created on the stations which will have world-class facilities including waiting lounges and food courts, besides amusement facilities for children," the minister said during the inaugural ceremony.

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The Railway Minister expressed that the railway stations will provide a platform for the sale of regional products. Bringing the contribution of the Marathawada region in the production of the Vande Bharat Express train, Ashwini Vaishnaw said that out of 400 Vande Bharat trains to be produced for India, 100 will be manufactured in the coach factory at Latur, Marathawada.

The minister said that the government didn't mention any reason behind the ‘Rate of Return’ for sanctioning a project. Applauding the connectivity system of the nation, Ashwini Vaishnaw said that all parts of the country are now connected with either highways or railways, under the PM Gati Shakti scheme. He assured the people that Marathawada will also be provided with proper connectivity.

Currently, the coach maintenance facility in Aurangabad has the capacity of 18 coaches, but Maharashtra Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Council, Ambadas Danve has demanded the expansion of the capacity to 24 coaches.

On this, Vaishnaw has ordered a review of the demand and also instructed the officials to send a proposal for the same in the next 15 days.

Minister of State for Railways and Jalna MP, Raosaheb Danve informed about the ₹11,000 crore amount that was sanctioned for Maharashtra which was ₹1,100 crore earlier. On the other hand, Union Minister of State for Finance Bhagwat Karad asked for the introduction of high-speed railway projects along the newly undertaken Aurangabad-Pune Expressway. There was also a demand of doing away with the ROR condition while sanctioning projects for certain regions like Marathawada.

(With inputs from PTI)