Bhubaneswar: Indian Railways has identified 57 stations in Odisha for development under the Amrit Bharat Station. Under the scheme, railway stations will be equipped with all modern amenities, in addition to developing the approach roads to the stations.
According to East Coast Railway (ECoR), the development work has already been taken up at some major railway stations. The Amrit Bharat Station Scheme 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 like improvement of station access, circulating areas, waiting halls, toilets, lift/escalators as necessary, 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, landscaping, etc. keeping in view the necessity at each station.
The railway stations identified for development under the Amrit Bharat Station Scheme are Angul, Badampahar, Balangir, Balasore, Balugaon, Barbil, Bargarh Road, Baripada, Barpali, Belpahar, Betnoti, Bhadrak, Bhawanipatna, Bhubaneswar, Bimlagarh, Brahmapur, Brajrajnagar, Chatrapur, Cuttack, Damanjodi, Dhenkanal, Gunupur, Harishanker Road, Hirakud, Jajpur-Keonjhar Road, Jaleswar, Jaroli, Jeypore, Jharsuguda, Jharsuguda Road, Kantabanji, Kendujhargarh, Kesinga, Khariar Road, Khurda road, Koraput, Lingaraj Temple Road, Mancheswar, Meramandali, Muniguda, New Bhubaneswar, Panposh, Paradeep, Parlakhemundi, Puri, Raghunathpur, Rairakhol, Rairangpur, Rajgangpur, Rayagada, Rourkela, Sakhi Gopal, Sambalpur, Sambalpur city, Talcher, Talcher Road, Titlagarh Jn.
In the first phase, works for some major stations have already been started and 25 railway stations under ECoR have been selected for redevelopment under the Amrit Bharat Station Scheme. These stations are Sakhigopal, Mancheswar, Dhenkanal, Chhatrapur, Angul, Palasa, Meramandali, Balugaon, Lingaraj Temple Road, Talcher Road, Khurda Road, Kantabanji, Bargarh Road, Hirakud, Rairakhol, Barpali, Muniguda, Balangir, Harisankar Road, Mahasamund, Bhawanipatna, Khariar Road, Vizianagaram, Duvvada and Damanjodi railway stations.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi Ji will lay the foundation stone for the redevelopment of 500 stations under Amrit Bharat Station Scheme, through video conferencing from New Delhi.
Altogether, a sum of Rs 547.7 crore will be spent for the redevelopment of 25 stations under ECoR.
