PM to lay foundation stone of 554 stations, 23 stations of NFR to be redeveloped
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lay the foundation stone for redevelopment of 23 railway stations of Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) on February 26th. These stations will be revamped under the scheme ‘Amrit Bharat Station’ for development of Stations on Indian Railways. Out of these 23 stations, foundation stone laying of Agartala station in Tripura, Sairang station in Mizoram and Rangpo station in Sikkim will be done by the PM.
Agartala railway station in Tripura will receive a significant facelift under the Amrit Bharat Station Scheme at an estimated cost of Rs. 48crores. Similarly, Sairang station in Mizoram &Rangpo station in Sikkim will be redeveloped at an estimated cost of Rs. 40 crores& 335 crores respectively. The revamping of these stations will offer a fusion of modern passenger amenities keeping in mind the local architecture of the respective states. The upgradation of these stations will lead to creation of new avenues which will lead to new employment, business opportunity and ease of travel for passengers across the Northeast.
In NFR jurisdiction, apart from these 3 stations, 11 stations from Assam namely Haibargaon, Gohpur, Harmuti, Majbat, Pathshala, Tangla, Udalguri, ViswanathChariali, Murkongselek, North Lakhimpur&Silapathar, 03 from Bihar namely Arariya Court, Labha, Salmari and 06 from West Bengal namely Balurghat, Bhaluka Road, Harischandrapur, Kumedpur Jn., Malda Court &SiliguriJn were also selected for laying the foundation stone. PM will also lay foundation stone for 6 Road Under Bridges and 2 Road Over Bridges under NFR.
The up-gradation at the stations will facilitate improved station access, amenities for Divyangjans, circulating areas, waiting halls, toilets, lift/escalators as necessary, free Wi-Fi, properly designed signages, dedicated pedestrian pathways, kiosks for local products through schemes like ‘One Station One Product’, better passenger information systems, Executive Lounges, nominated spaces for business meetings, landscaping and others keeping in view the necessity at each station.