‘Every Redeveloped Station has Unique Characteristics, Complexities and Scale'

THE Indian Railway Stations Development Corporation (IRSDC) is a special purpose vehicle and a joint venture company of Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA), RITES, and Ircon International. IRSDC has the authority to develop stations for the mandated purposes without requiring approvals from local authorities. Spearheading it is S.K. Lohia, MD & CEO, IRSDC who shares with Ashish Sinha of BW Businessworld an overview of the projects that have been completed, or are nearing completion and the overall vision of this mega project. Excerpts:

What are the stations where work has been completed or is nearing completion?

Gujarat’s Gandhinagar Capital Railway Station, symbolising the new face of Indian Railways, was recently dedicated to the nation by the Prime Minister. The station has several firsts to its credit, including a five-star hotel over live railway tracks and a one-of-its-kind column-free platform roof with the largest span in Indian Railways. It is a unique, column-free, sleek, and economical space frame of 99 meters (105 m curvilinear) span over the platform (longest such span in Indian Railways comprising 120 kg/sqm steel only) with all-weather proof aluminium sheeting.

Another station nearing completion is Habibganj Railway Station, Bhopal. It is being redeveloped by IRSDC along with Bansal Group’s Bansal Pathways Habibganj under a public-private partnership (PPP) model. The redevelopment work is modeled on the lines of Germany’s Heidelberg Railway Station with facilities at par with international standards. The redeveloped Habibganj Railway Station is the first in India to get a 5 GEM rating in GEM Sustainability Certification for Green, Sustainable Design and Eco-friendly Project by ASSOCHAM.

Which station redevelopment took the shortest time to complete?