Indian Railways 'Adarsh Station' scheme: 1,103 stations developed, says Piyush Goyal

Under its Adarsh Station Scheme (ASS), Indian Railways has identified 1,253 stations for development and, of these, 1,103 railway stations have already been developed, said Railway Minister Piyush Goyal on Friday. He added, "Modernisation and upgradation of railway stations in Indian Railways is a continuous and on-going process. This has been undertaken from time to time under various modernisation schemes such as Model Station Scheme, Modern Station Scheme and Adarsh Station Scheme." 

In the written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha on Friday, Piyush Goyal further informed:

1. Goyal said, "At present, upgradation of stations is undertaken under the Adarsh Station Scheme. 1,253 stations have been identified for development under the Adarsh station Scheme out of which 1,103 railway stations have been developed so far and the remaining stations are planned to be developed by 2019-20." 

2. The Railways Minister apprised that 68 stations have been identified for soft upgradation and all 68 stations have been upgraded in the year 2018-19. 

3. Goyal said that a separate policy has been made for the development of stations under the Station Redevelopment Programme through Indian Railway Stations Development Corporation Limited (IRSDC) on `as is where is` basis.

4. According to him, "Redevelopment of stations is planned through leveraging of commercial development of vacant land/air space in and around stations."

5. Goyal said: "Presently, the work of redevelopment is in progress at Gandhinagar (Gujrat) and Habibganj (Madhya Pradesh) stations. Contracts for redevelopment have been awarded for Gomtinagar, Charbagh (Uttar Pradesh) and Puducherry (Union Territory of Puducherry) stations."