Indian Railways developing 'Rail Ports'

One should not be surprised if railway stations are renamed as ‘Rail ports’. Many railway stations are being developed on the lines of Airports. New stations will have separate arrival and departure area, shopping complex, retiring rooms, multi-storey parking. New facilities will be provided at both sides if the station has two entries. The Indian Railway has earmarked huge budget for the upgradation of railway stations. Almost every Zonal Railways are developing stations in their respective Zones.The South Central Railway is also developing about 20 stations, including Secunderabad, Begumpet, Nellore and Tirupati stations in the first phase.

The Secunderabad station is being developed in a big way. A budget of Rs 700 crore has been estimated for the remodelling of the station. The project, which was started in November 2022, will be completed by October, 2025. According to Bhartesh Kumar Jain, DRM, “New building of Secunderabad will be an iconic station building and has been well designed for next 60 years. We are providing fully cover platforms and tracks, clutter free platforms with improved surfaces.”  New station building will be a certified green building and is being developed in an area of 1,65,566 sqm. Secunderabad is an important station of Hyderabad district.

Secunderabad railway station started in 1874 and for the first-time a major upgradation work has been taken up.
Begumpet Station

Begumpet is also a small station of Hyderabad but due to passenger traffic it has also become an important station. Begumpet is also being developed under Amrit Station Scheme. Begumpet station is centrally located in twin cities and handles more than 16,000 passengers per day.This station having stoppage of important and superfast trains from Mumbai and Pune. The estimated cost for upgradation of Begumpet station would be Rs 26.55 crore.
Nellore Station

Nellore is other station of the SC railway which is being upgraded on the lines of Secunderabad. Satellite Station Sri Harikota is about 40 KM from Nellore station. All south and North bound trains are stop at Nellore. Nellore is a busy stattion but presently lack sufficient passengers' facilities. 

#NelloreRailwayStation, under the #SCrailway , is being developed. The project will be completed byOct 2 this year. pic.twitter.com/8O6A03hwHJ

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Tirupati stattion

Tirupati is a renowned religious place and tourists from all over the country reach here to have a darshan of Balaji throughout the year. According to Sudhakar, ADRM normally, Tirupati station receive about 90,000 passengers daily but during festivals and holidays this figure goes up to 1.5 lakh per day. To cope up such a huge rush of passengers, the station badly requires a facelift. And the upgradation work is going on in full swing and is expected to be completed within two years, he said. Tirupati comes under the Guntakal Division, which is 340 KM from Tirupati.

The railway is giving main thrust on Divyang passengers’ facilities. The ongoing plans will completely change the look and facilities at the stations and these would be a ‘feel good’ for passengers.Stations are being given local touch in all forms. ‘Dashavatar’ of Lord Vishnu will be displayed at Tirupati station while famous artifact could be seen at Secunderabad railway station.

Mahatma Gandhi visited Nellore. The railway authorities are trying to include a painting of Bapu’s stay in the city, at the station building.