New Delhi: The Ministry of Railways has launched the ‘Amrit Bharat Station Scheme’ for the development of Railway stations following which it envisages the development of stations on a continuous basis with a long-term approach.
It involves the preparation of Master Plans and their implementation in phases to improve the amenities at the stations including improvement of station access, circulating areas, waiting halls, toilets, lift, escalators as necessary, platform surfacing and cover over platform, cleanliness, free Wi-Fi, kiosks for local products through schemes like 'One Station One Product', better passenger information systems, Executive Lounges, nominated spaces for business meetings, and landscaping, Union Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw informed the Lok Sabha.
"The scheme also envisages improvement of building, integrating the station with both sides of the city, multimodal integration, and amenities for Divyangjans, sustainable and environment friendly solutions, and provision of ballastless tracks," Vaishnaw said.
As per the necessity, phasing and feasibility and creation of city centres at the station in the long term. As of now, 1337 stations have been identified under this scheme out of which 57 stations are located in Jharkhand, 132 stations are located in Maharashtra and 80 stations are located in Madhya Pradesh (including 7 stations in Hoshangabad Lok Sabha Constituency), the Union Minister said.
The allocation of funds for the development and maintenance of stations are maintained Zonal Railway-wise under Plan Head-53 ‘Customer Amenities’ and not work-wise or Station-wise or state-wise. Jharkhand is covered by three zones viz. Eastern Railway, East Central Railway and South Eastern Railway. The allocation for the financial year 2024-25 for these zones is Rs 1626 crores, he added.
Maharashtra is covered by four zones viz. Central Railway, South Central Railway, South East Central Railway and Western Railway. The allocation for the financial year 2024-25 for these zones is Rs 4406 crores. Madhya Pradesh is covered by seven zones viz. Central Railway, East Central Railway, North Central Railway, South Central Railway, South East Central Railway, Western Railway and West Central Railway. The allocation for the financial year 2024-25 for these zones is Rs 6339 crores, the Minister said.
The Minister pointed out that with a view to providing greater accommodation for the passengers using General and non-AC Sleeper Coaches, the extant policy regarding the composition of Mail/Express trains provides for 12 General class & Sleeper class non-AC coaches and 8 AC [1]Coaches, in a train of 22 coaches, thereby providing greater accommodation for the passengers using General and non-AC Sleeper Coaches.
Moreover, to provide greater accommodation for passengers travelling in unreserved coaches, over 600 General Class coaches have been attached, in the Mail/Express trains operating with LHB (Linke Hofmann Busch) coaches, during the current financial year. This includes 25 General Class coaches attached in trains owned by West Central Railway. Besides, attachment of coaches in trains is an ongoing process on Indian Railways, subject to traffic justification, operational feasibility, and resource availability, Vaishnaw added.
