Bhubaneswar: If everything goes as per plan, the New Year 2020 will see commencement of the work for transforming the Bhubaneswar railway station into a multi-modal hub.
Indian Railways and the state government have plans to renovate the city railway station by setting up a swanky complex and integrating road transport to make travelling smoother and convenient for the passengers.
An agreement has already been signed between Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) and East Coast Railway (ECoR) to develop Bhubaneswar railway station into a multi-modal transit hub.
BDA has sought the services of Singapore-based design consultant Surbana Jurong for the job.
As part of the project, the railway station will have a bus terminal, multi-level car parking facility, and dedicated pick-up and drop-off lanes for taxi or auto-rickshaws for the benefit of passengers.
Prem Chandra Chaudhary, the Vice-Chairman of BDA, said the execution of the work will begin soon. The single project will be implemented via two models. “The portion connecting the railway station with the public plaza will be done through government funding. That will be executed through EPC mode for which we will float the tender in January. We hope to complete the due process in a few months and start the work in May. The high-rise building which will have malls and hotels will be constructed via PPP mode. For PPP mode, we need height clearance from Airport Authority of India (AAI) for which they have formed a committee. The committee will take two months to give us clearance following which we will start the tendering for the PPP portion of the project,” said Chaudhary.
The total area of the new railway station would be around 1.74 lakh sq ft.
