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PM Naredra Modi’s ambitious plan of developing 407 railway stations as world class stations has failed to pick up pace. The process is so slow that by the end of 2019, when current government will complete its 5 year tenure, just over 50 stations will undergo tendering process.

Cabinet shown green signal for redevelopment of railway stations in mid-2015 itself but so far only Bhopal’s Habibganj and Gandhinagar of Gujarat has been awarded contracts of redevelopment.

In April this year railway will invite bids for three more stations namely – Surat, Bijwasan and Anand Vihar.

According to railway officials, 21 stations are identified as priority stations for redevelopment and we hope that by the end of 2019 atleast 50 stations can be awarded contract of redevelopment. Investment is a major hurdle in swift execution of project, however we have seen that bidders have shown keen interest when we put up first two stations for a bid.

Through redevelopment of stations railway is eyeing another source of revenue by commercially exploiting the possibilities like leasing out unused land to private firms.

Another hurdle that is hindering the redevelopment process for railways is passenger and train movements cannot be affected during entire process. Stations like New Delhi railway station with an average daily footfall of around 5 lakh, decongestion still remains a major hurdle.

Out of 407 identified stations, a report suggest that 305 stations are actually viable for commercial exploration. Although countries like South Korea, Japan, Austria and Switzerland have shown keen interest in the project but any foreign funding is yet to be received.