PM lays foundation stone for redevelopment of 508 railway stations
Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for the redevelopment of 508 railway stations across the country via video conferencing on Sunday. Redeveloped at a cost of more than ₹24,470 crore, the 508 stations are spread across 27 states and union territories, including 55 each in Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, 49 in Bihar, 44 in Maharashtra and 37 in West Bengal. The railways has set an internal target of one-and-a-half years to two years to complete the projects.
Modi said that almost 1,300 prime railway stations will now be redeveloped as ‘Amrit Bharat Stations’. He added that the redevelopment project will represent a huge boost for infrastructure development in the country. The prime minister said India’s stature was growing and highlighted the growing global interest in the country.
He credited two major factors for this – the election of a stable, full-majority government, and the government’s ambitious decisions and relentless work. He said that the length of track laid in the country in the past nine years is more than the combined railway networks of South Africa, Ukraine, Poland, the UK and Sweden. He added that last year alone, India laid more railway tracks than the combined networks of South Korea, New Zealand and Australia.
The government, he said, is working to make rail journeys accessible and pleasant. “The effort is to provide the best possible experience from train to station," he added. He mentioned better seating on platforms, upgraded waiting rooms and free wifi on thousands of stations.
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