Tirupati railway station will turn world-class by 2021: SCR GM

Tirupati: A meeting with all the stakeholders was organised here on Thursday for discussing various proposals to make Tirupati railway station as world-class in the next 3 years.

South Central Railway (SCR) General Manager (GM) Vinod Kumar Yadav and Guntakal DRM Vijay Pratap Singh along with other railway officials held a meeting in which representatives from the three executing agencies of the redevelopment project were present.

Speaking to the media, Vinod Kumar Yadav made it clear that the aim is to complete the entire project by 2021, which will take off in the next 6-7 months at a cost of Rs 400 crores, and to be carried out totally under PPP mode.

Explaining the salient features, the GM said, in the new facility, passengers will enter the station directly through the first floor where the lounge, waiting halls, toilets and other amenities will be provided just like airport.

When they have to board their train then they need to go the ground floor through escalators and lifts. Similarly, passengers, who get down in Tirupati will exit from station directly from the ground floor.

“In international standards, we will make entry and exit at different levels,” the GM said. While the total area to be developed is about six lakh square feet and the major portion of it will be towards the south side where 5.5 lakh square feet will be developed in which an eight-storeyed building will also come up.

“Our intention is to provide all facilities which are available at airports whereas they will have a comparatively lesser crowd. But, we have to manage with heavy crowds,” Yadav maintained. On north side, piazza view was planned under which greenery will be developed.

The representatives of project executing agencies, Rakesh Goyal, Vice-Chairman of the Railway Land Development Authority (RLDA), MK Chawla, General Manager of the National Building Construction Corporation (NBCC) and Sridhar, Chief Project Manager of the Indian Railway Station Development Authority (IRSDA) have participated.

Apart from Municipal Corporation Commissioner C Hari Kiran, the TTD representatives and traffic cops also took part. By January month end, the GM stated another round of meeting will be held to take the proposals further.

The much-awaited Rail Under Bridge (RUB) works at Rayalachervu gate and opposite RTC bus station will begin in three months. The main hurdle in executing the works was the diversion of the drainage which the Corporation Commissioner agreed to take care of immediately. On the budget part, as per the norms the state government and railways have to bear the cost equally of total cost of Rs 12 crore for each RUB.

In the case of the RUB at RTC bus station already there is an ROB nearby and hence, the state government has to bear the entire burden. “Once they give their nod on budgetary part and complete the diversion of drain then the works will begin, he stated.