Station redevelopment in the city will be revised with international consultants being called in to Delhi on September 2, railway minister Suresh Prabhu has said.
Station redevelopment in the city will be revised with international consultants being called in to Delhi on September 2, railway minister Suresh Prabhu has said. Redevelopment of stations gained new fervor when Mr Prabhu called for proposals from 400 MPs including Mumbai's CST, Bombay Central, Bandra, Thane and Borivali. Redevelopment was suggested as a way to improve infrastructure at railway stations, especially those that saw heavy footfall during peak hours and did not have adequate dispersal and handling capacity.
During the inauguration of amenities on Monday, Mr Prabhu said that by roping in outside private companies, they hoped that not just planning but also rehabilitation would be facilitated. “International consultants have been asked to come and discuss redevelopment and what model the state, centre and municipal corporations need to work on together to make this a success,” he said.
There was a clash between the Centre’s redevelopment plan and that of the Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporations, after which stations like Kurla and Dadar were dropped as the railway ministry brought in a separate policy for these stations. But Mr Prabhu had promised on a separate occasion that 48 Mumbai suburban stations would be redeveloped, “Station redevelopment is vital for Mumbai as we are using the same infrastructure but a greater number of commuters is added to the railway every day and we need to look at the infrastructure to handle this rush,” he said.
