While Prime Minister Narendra Modi in July last year announced his plan to develop 400 railway stations across the country including Bandra, Mumbai Central, Borivali and CST from Mumbai, no legitimate work on the plan has been carried out yet.
The reason being the railway is on its way to finalise a strategic consultant for this project, as revealed by the CEO of Indian Railway Station Development Corporation (IRSDC), S.K. Lohia.
When asked about station development in Mumbai, Mr Lohia said he did not have any recent updates after Union railway minister, Suresh Prabhu, met chief minister Devendra Fadnavis last week.
“I cannot give you any updates for any of the stations as the minister has given a statement about them. However, regarding the 400 stations, the railway is going to appoint a strategic consultant soon to help us with our plans to develop these stations,” he said.
Mr Lohia met private contractors at Churchgate for development of Surat as a Multi-purpose Transportation Hub (MPTH) that would include the local civic body and Gujarat State Road Transport Corporation (GSRTC).
The PM promised 400 developed stations, chairing the cabinet approval for the same.
All stations in question come under the A and A1 categories which means that they earn revenues of more than Rs 50 crore annually. An additional facet of the plan is to develop these stations commercially, making them one-stop destinations for commuters who use train services.
Mumbaikars were already disheartened when the railway’s plan to develop Thane and CST was eventually dropped after being termed “non-feasible”.
