Railway stations are upgraded/modernized under Adarsh Station Scheme based on identified need of providing better enhanced passenger amenities at stations. 1253 railway stations have been identified for development under Adarsh Station Scheme. Out of these, 1211 railway stations have been developed and the remaining 42 stations are targeted for development in Financial Year 2022-23.
- In addition, a dedicated umbrella has been created for financial year 2020-21 specifically for “Soft Upgrades at stations” (like improvement in station buildings, tall flags, steel benches, cover over platform, etc.).
- Various passenger amenities’ works such as improvement to façade of the station building, improvement to platform surfaces, station illumination and cleaning, foot over bridges, separate waiting room with toilet for ladies, ramps at entry to station for physically handicapped and senior citizens, etc. are undertaken under the umbrella as per the respective category of the station depending upon need, volume of passenger traffic and inter-se priority, subject to availability of funds.
- The expenditure on development of stations under Adarsh Station Scheme and under different umbrella meant for development of railway stations is generally funded under Plan Head-53 ‘Passenger Amenities’.
- The expenditure incurred for modernization of stations during the last three years and current year (till November, 2021) i.e. 2018-19, 2019-20, 2020-21 and 2021-22 (till Nov, 2021) are Rs 1585.88 crore, Rs 1903.11 crore, Rs 2582.90 crore and Rs 1061.83 respectively.
- Further upgradation/modernization of stations including platforms on Indian Railways is a continuous and on-going process and priority is accorded to higher category of stations over lower category of stations while sanctioning and executing the works.
- 6076. stations have been provided with Wi-Fi facilities so far.
- 1174 number of stations have been provided with Train Indication (Boards) Systems and 680 Number of Railway stations have been provided with Coach Indication (Guidance) System.
- This information was given by the Minister of Railways, Communications and Electronic & Information Technology, Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha on 17.12.2021.
Modernization of Indian Railways:
As a part of its modernization endeavour, Indian Railways, have decided to convert trains operating with conventional Integral Coach Factory (ICF) type coaches by Linke Hofmann Busch (LHB) coaches, which are technologically superior and provide better travelling experience and safety.
- To this end, Indian Railways are producing only Linke Hofmann Busch (LHB) coaches from 2018 onwards.
- Till November, 2021, 575 pairs of trains have been replaced with Linke Hofmann Busch (LHB) coaches.
- The conversion of Integral Coach Factory (ICF) coaches to Linke Hofmann Busch (LHB) coaches is being done in a phased manner subject to operational feasibility and availability of coaches.
- In addition, State of the art Vande Bharat Coaches being produced as Train sets are also being inducted.
- The different Coaches with improved features like Humsafar, Tejas, Antyodaya, Utkrisht Double Decker Air-Conditioned Yatri (UDAY), Mahamana, Deen Dayalu and Vistadome are being inducted over Indian Railways.
- However, Indian Railways neither operate train services nor undertakes conversion of coaches on state-wise basis.
- This information was given by Union Minister of Railways, Communications and Electronics & Information Technology, Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw in a written reply in Rajya Sabha on 10.12.21.
Source: PIB-Press Release | Image Credit (representational): MoR
