Facelift to Tirupati Railway Station soon

Tirupati: The redevelopment plan of Tirupati Railway Station has been going on the right path with tenders were already floated for Rs 400 crore works. Interested parties have been submitting tenders to concerned authorities.

It may be recalled that Railway Land Development Authority (RLDA), National Building Construction Corporation (NBCC) and Indian Railways Station Development Corporation (IRSDC) have been assigned the task of chalking out the plans of redevelopment of railway station with a long-term perspective. The proposed works will be taken up under Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode with no financial burden on railways.

The total redevelopment plan was finalised by railway authorities after several rounds of discussions and the miniature models have been kept for display at Tirupati Station for the last two days along with the model of Tiruchanur station.

Passengers arriving at the station have been watching these models with enthusiasm and appreciating the plans. They were wishing that it should be soon materialised and completed which will give good ambience and a host of facilities and comfort.

Under the redevelopment plan, an eight storeyed building will be built at the south side of the station, in which the first floor will be used for operational purposes. The remaining rooms will house running rooms, retiring rooms, passenger amenities, hotels etc. The developer will use the top portion of the building for commercial purpose.

There was a huge plan to develop the station on the north side also where the existing road will be entirely covered to get a piazza view and there will be no vehicular traffic in that road. However, the Revenue department has to make a study to assess the traffic problems and it has to be seen whether any land acquisition is required there.

The idea was to bring a pleasant view for the pilgrims once they come out of the station from north side by seeing directly the Govindaraja Swamy temple and its tank (Koneru). The existing railway reservation complex also will be removed for this purpose. After the redevelopment, it has been planned to bring airport like feeling for the passengers with separate entries for arrivals and departures.

The spacious lobbies, chairs, and other amenities will be on par with world class. There will be ample space for parking particularly on the south side and with the increased number of platforms, more trains can be operated from the pilgrim city. Speaking to The Hans India, Station Director K Satyanarayana has said that the miniature models have been placed for display in the 63rd Railway Week celebrations held at Bhopal in April and drew huge applause from many officials.

Already those who are interested to take up the redevelopment works by filing tender documents have started visiting the Station to study the ground situation here and these documents will be opened on September 11 after which the selected agency will take up the implementation of the plan.