Finally, firm hired to give Chandigarh railway station a swanky makeover

  The city’s railway station is all set to dazzle with a stylish facelift and modern amenities, as northern railway has finally awarded its first contract that will ensure world-class stature to the station. The Rs 311.4-crore project was awarded to Ludhiana-based Deepak builders and engineers Pvt. Ltd. on October 30.

The project, under public-private partnership (PPP) model, is stipulated to be complete in 24 months. Under the contract, the station will be beautified and developed on both the Chandigarh and Panchkula sides. An ‘air concourse’, on the lines of airport terminals, will also be developed for all six platforms with facilities such as a VIP waiting room, a coffee house and ATM machines. Subways will be put in place to segregate passenger flow and prevent chaos at the station.

In a swanky facelift, the station will boast new lights, lifts, escalators, baggage scanners and bottle crushing machines.

Director, Indian Railway Station Development Corporation (IRSDC), RK Singh, said, “The tender for development has been awarded but we have still to issue tenders for commercial development, such as hotels, restaurants, shopping malls.”

Delay in project

Nearly a decade ago, then union railway minister, Pawan Kumar Bansal, had included Chandigarh railway station in the list of five stations to be developed with world-class infrastructure with the latest facilities.

However, the plans remained on paper for several reasons. One was that the lease period was set for 45 years, which did not attract bidders. Then in 2018, the railways ministry extended the lease period to 99 years. Another cause that hindered the project was inadequate land. Railway authorities had asked for 5 lakh sq ft of land from UT authorities for the project, but only 2.5 lakh sq ft was sanctioned.

World-class facilities planned

Facilities such as subways for all six platforms, clean toilets, waiting lounges, hotels and a one shopping complex, road under the bridge, development of a 45-mt long road from Kalagram to Panchkula railway station, foot overbridges, air concourse, high-tech security surveillance, free wifi and bottle crushing machines.