Title - With smart city there will be smart railway stations

Under the smart city plan a MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) is signed between Railways and urban Development Ministry that will develop at least 500 stations with better passenger amenities and integrated public transport hubs that can be easily accessed by passengers.

A per the railways, a smart city must also have smart railway stations therefore developing stations must be done before developing the city.

100 railway stations with an adjoining area of 300-800 acres would be redeveloped in conjunction with Urban Development Authority and Railways under the Smart Cities and the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) Cities plans.

Initially with NBCC (National Buildings Construction Corporation) 10 railway stations will be taken up for redevelopment. Stations which will be redeveloped are –

• Lucknow,
• Varanasi,
• Bhubaneswar,
• Sarai Rohilla (Delhi),
• Kota,
• Thane,
• Varnasi,
• Jaipur, Margao (Goa),
• Tirupati
• Puducherry

Indian Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu said that several countries like Germany, Japan, South Korea, France an UK are showing interest in redevelopment of stations. Mr. Prabhu has also been busy in the meeting with overseas and domestic bankers to finance put money into the construction and development of these stations.