Email
Print
ShareAhmedabad: The proposal to convert the Ahmedabad junction into a world-class railway station is not new. In fact, this plan was first put forward around two years, but is yet to see any concrete developments beyond the proposal.
According to railway officials, no tangible developments in this connection have been made in the two years since it was first proposed, expect for a couple of roundtable meetings and the projection of facilities likely to be installed at the station under the plan.
"Talk of converting the Ahmedabad railway station into a world-class one has been going on for the last two years. However, we have not received any guidelines or instructions so far," said a source in the railways. The process of modernising the station is not an easy job, a source said, since the area surrounding it has become congested over the years. "There is a lack of space now and there is no chance of the station being shifted elsewhere," the source said.
Meanwhile, a committee comprising officials from the Western Railway headquarters in Mumbai and the Ahmedabad division is studying the various aspects of the station at present, a source said. However, this process is still at a nascent stage. The railway budget on Friday also announced the modernisation of the railway station at Porbandar (among 50 across India) through a public-private partnership.
Nonetheless, the citizens of Ahmedabad may expect world-class facilities akin to those at railway stations in Europe, with the introduction of malls, eateries, escalators and corporate-styled cabins for officials of the railways and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).
