Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday inaugurated 103 redeveloped railway stations, spread across 86 districts in 18 states and Union Territories, under the Amrit Bharat Station Scheme. He also flagged off a new weekly train between Bandra Terminus in Mumbai and Bikaner station in Rajasthan.
After praying at the Karni Mata temple in Deshnoke, around 30 km away from Bikaner and nearly 200 km from the International Border with Pakistan, PM Modi inaugurated the redeveloped Deshnoke railway station, and virtually inaugurated 102 other stations.
Of the 103 stations redeveloped at a cost of over Rs 1,100 crore, 19 are in Uttar Pradesh, 18 in Gujarat, 15 in Maharashtra, nine in Tamil Nadu, eight in Rajasthan, six in Madhya Pradesh, five each in Chhattisgarh and Karnataka, three each in Jharkhand, Telangana and West Bengal, two each in Bihar and Kerala and one each in Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, and Puducherry.
A total of 1,300 stations have been identified for redevelopment under the scheme. Out of these, 157 are in Uttar Pradesh, followed by 132 in Maharashtra and 101 in West Bengal.
Launched in 2022, the Amrit Bharat Station Scheme is a long-term plan to improve railway stations and develop them as “city centres”. According to the Ministry of Railways, under the scheme, detailed plans are made for each station and the work is done in phases, based on what each station needs.
Among the stations redeveloped under the scheme, Deshnoke railway station, which serves pilgrims and tourists visiting the Karni Mata Temple, among others, has been heavily inspired by temple architecture. While Begumpet railway station in Telangana incorporates design elements inspired by the architecture of the Kakatiya empire, Thawe station in Bihar has murals and artworks depicting Madhubani paintings. Dakor station in Gujarat is inspired by Ranchhodrai Ji Maharaj.
The redeveloped stations feature various facilities such as entry and exit points, waiting halls, toilets, platforms, and roofing. Along with this, lifts, escalators, and free Wi-Fi are added wherever needed. There are also better signs and information systems to help passengers. Some stations will have executive lounges and special areas for business meetings. Local products will be sold at kiosks under the ‘One Station One Product’ scheme.
Story continues below this ad
Earlier, under the Amrit Bharat Station Scheme, a total of six stations were redeveloped— MP’s Rani Kamlapati, Gujarat’s Gandhinagar Capital, Karnataka’s Sir M V Terminal, UP’s Ayodhya Dham, the first phase of the Gomti Nagar railway station, and the second entry of Odisha’s Cuttack station. Many of them were pilot projects for the scheme.
According to railway ministry data, around Rs 8,000 crore was spent under the head of ‘customer amenities’ for 2023-24. The expected expenditure target for the last financial year 2024-25 was Rs 12,992 crore, and over Rs 12,000 crore has been allocated for FY 2025-26.
PM Modi also inaugurated various completed electrification projects such as Suratgarh-Phalodi rail line (336 route kilometres or Rkm), Phulera-Degana rail line (109 Rkm), Udaipur-Himmatnagar rail line (210 Rkm), Phalodi-Jaisalmer rail line (157 Rkm) and Samdari-Barmer rail line (129 Rkm). He also laid the foundation stone for the doubling of the Churu-Sadulpur rail line (58 km).