101 stations in WB for modernisation under Amrit Bharat Scheme: Minister

The minister for railways, Ashwini Vaishnaw, today stated in the Rajya Sabha that the ministry of railways has launched Amrit Bharat Station Scheme for redevelopment of stations with a long-term approach.

In a written reply to the question raised by MP Samik Bhattacharya in the Rajya Sabha today on the current status of progress of each of the 101 railway stations in West Bengal selected under the Amrit Bharat Station Scheme, including percentage of work completed, names of the seven stations in West Bengal where development work under the scheme has not yet commenced, along with the reasons for the same, the expected timeline for completion of works at the remaining stations, along with the targets set by the ministry for the Financial Year 2025-26. The MP asked about the key infrastructure upgrades and passenger amenities being provided under the scheme at these stations, particularly concerning safety, accessibility and inter-modal integration. The minister said, the scheme involves preparation of master plans and their implementation in phases to improve the stations. The master planning includes: Improvement of access to station and circulating areas; Integration of station with both sides of city; Improvement of station building; Improvement of waiting halls, toilets, sitting arrangement, water booths; Provision of wider foot over bridge/air concourse commensurate with passenger traffic; Provision of lift/escalators/ramp; Improvement /Provision of platform surface and cover over platforms; Provision of kiosks for local products through schemes like ‘One Station One Product’; Parking areas, multimodal integration; Amenities for Divyangjans; Better passenger information systems; Provision of executive lounges, nominated spaces for business meetings, landscaping, etc. keeping in view the necessity at each station.

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The scheme also envisages sustainable and environment friendly solutions, provision of ballast-less tracks etc. as per necessity, phasing and feasibility and creation of a city centre at the station in the long term, added the Union minister.

Mr Vaishnaw stated that so far, 1,337 stations have been identified for development under Amrit Bharat Station Scheme, out of which 101 stations are located in West Bengal.