IRSDC to redevelop Mumbai's Andheri Railway Station in 2 phases; to have modern, swanky look with world class facilities

State-run Indian Railway Stations Development Corporation (IRSDC) will redevelop the iconic Andheri Railway Station in Mumbai. The redevelopment will provide world-class amenities to passengers and enhance the travel experience at one of the busiest railway station in Mumbai, Zee Business’ Sameer Dixit reports.

The built-up area of Andheri Railway Station will be 21,843 sq mt and the model adopted for redevelopment will be DBFOT (Design, Build, Finance, Operate and Transfer), Dixit said.

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IRSDC will be redeveloping the Andheri Railway Station in a phased manner. The overall area of redevelopment is 4.31 acres, of which 2.1 acres is for Phase 1 construction, and the rest is for the Phase 2 construction.

The estimated project cost for Phase 1 redevelopment is Rs 218 cr.

IRSDC is a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) which is a joint venture company of Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA) and Ircon International Limited (IRCON).

A proposal for the same has been processed for in-principle approval of the competent authority. The in-principle approval of the Andheri Master Plan along with Floor Plans has already been received from Western Railways on 21 May 2021. Request for Qualification (RFQ) of Andheri Railway Station for the Phase 1 redevelopment will be issued once the required approvals are accorded. 

In addition to Andheri, IRSDC will also be redeveloping Dadar, Kalyan, Thakurli, Bandra, CSMT, Thane and Borivali stations in Mumbai.

IRSDC has said that the work across these projects are at different stages.

The redevelopment of Railway Stations is a priority agenda of the Government of India that will transform Railway Station Areas into a 'Railopolis’ – a mini-smart city with mixed-use development where one can live, work, play and ride, thus attracting huge investment and business opportunities.

Redevelopment of Andheri station will provide:

• A concourse on the east side of the station, which will connect to all FOBs (Foot Over Bridge) and integrate the railway station with the metro station.
• The entry to the station, along with drop-offs/pick-ups, has been planned at the Versova Marg Road to ease the congestion on an existing entry.
• The deck will be fully integrated with the skywalks on Swami Nityananda Marg road.
• The roof is planned above the suburban platforms, similar to the roof at Churchgate and CSMT stations to stop the rainwater and direct sunlight into the platform. 
• Redeveloped Andheri Railway station shall be 100 per cent divyang-accessible and to be developed on the green building concept.
• To be redeveloped as a smart station with a modern Building Management System integrated with CCTV and other systems.
• The commercial development will be done above the concourse level to provide superior amenities for the passengers.

Andheri station is considered as one of the busiest stations on the Western Railway Network serving two major railway lines – the Harbour Line that runs towards Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus or Panvel and the Western Line which connects Churchgate and Dahanu.

The Varsova – Andheri – Ghatkopar Metro Line Station is situated next to the station on the east side. Andheri is a major station for long-distance trains and handles approximately 4.2 lakh passengers per day.

It has nine platforms with platform numbers 8 and 9 dedicated for long-distance trains, while the remaining for suburban trains.

Indian Railways plans to redevelop 123 station. IRSDC is working on 63 stations while RLDA is working on 60 stations. As per current estimates, the total investment needed for the redevelopment of 123 stations along with real estate development is about Rs 50,000 crore.