Title - 84 more railway stations to be upgraded this year: Govt - The Economic Times

NEW DELHI: After upgrading 73 railway stations under the 'Adarsh' scheme, Indian Railways has identified 84 more such locations which will be developed in the present financial year, government told the Rajya Sabha today.

In a written reply to the House, Minister of State for Railways Bharatsinh Solanki said that "during Budget 2012-13, 84 more stations have been identified for development under the 'Adarsh' scheme.... Out of the 266 stations identified during 2011-12, 73 have been developed as per the norms."

Regarding development of world class railway stations, he said that the consultancy works for preparation of Master Plan and Feasibility Report had been taken up for New Delhi, Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, Mumbai and Patna.

"Action has also been initiated for appointment of consultants for Secunderabad, Anand Vihar, Chandigarh, Bijwasan, Porbandar, Surat, Ahmedabad, Sealdah and Chennai Central. For other stations, preliminary activities have been taken up by the Zonal Railways," Solanki said.

Replying to a question on installation of escalators at busy stations, he said that a centralised order for provision of 100 escalators across Indian Railways has been placed.

"It has been proposed to install additional 221 escalators at various stations... It has also been proposed to commission 50 escalators during the current financial year and remaining escalators subsequently," Solanki said.