The Passenger Amenities Committee (PAC) of the Ministry of Railways visited Secunderabad railway station on 25th Sept’ 2021. The committee inspected the passenger amenities and other facilities available at the Secunderabad railway station. The committee included the Chairman Sh. P.K. Krishnadas and the members.
- The committee interacted with officials of South Central railway & IRSDC.
- It was informed to the committee that the facility management of the station is being managed by IRSDC in addition to managing facility management at other stations, IRSDC is also redeveloping railway stations including Secunderabad railway station.
- Indian Railway Stations Development Corporation (IRSDC) has been entrusted with the facility management of the Secunderabad Railway station.
- The committee appreciated the upkeep of the station especially the greenery and horticulture work maintained at the entrance of the station towards platform 10 side and commented that the high level of cleanliness is being maintained at the station.
- The committee interacted with the passengers at the station.
- The passengers responded that they were very much satisfied with the cleanliness being kept at the station and also told the committee that the staff deployed at the station is very responsive and helpful.
- The committee inspected various passenger facilities like waiting halls, toilets & catering stalls etc. at the station.
- The committee appreciated the cleanliness in the toilets and the other facilities at the station.
- The committee also visited ‘Water from Air’ vending kiosk, Health kiosk, Generic Medicine Outlet ‘Dawadost’ and commended the innovative initiatives taken by IRSDC at the station, all of which are very useful to the passengers.
- The committee was informed that the ‘Water from Air’ kiosk is the 1st of its kind facility at any station over Indian railways where atmospheric vapour is extracted & converted to water and served to the passengers.
- Thus, there is no water supplied from an internal source from the station which is to be filtered or any reverse osmosis (RO) process being executed to the water being supplied from any source to be offered to the passengers.
- This service is based on a patented technology and it is a unique facility being offered to passengers over IR.
- The committee appreciated the initiative for providing Generic Medicine outlet at station which has been opened with a view to promote “Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana (PMBJP)”, which is 1st of its kind of facility at the station where passengers especially the Sr. citizens and other passengers.
- The outlet offers discount upto 80% on the MRP and the outlet has a provision for doctor rooms for medical assistance to the passengers.
- The committee also inspected a Biryani outlet, “Biryani Adda”, which has been opened recently to promote local Hyderabadi cuisine, where branded biryani is being offered to the passengers.
- This is also the 1st of its kind outlet being opened at the station offering its services. Although hyderabad is famous for its biryanis however, no such outlet offering branded biryani is available at the station.
- To provide good quality & established branded biryani, ‘Bawarchi’ brand of biryani is being offered frod from Biryani adda.
- The outlet is gradually becoming popular amongst the general passengers.
- To promote branded products at the stations, IRSDC has opened ‘Nestle Kiosks’ at the station.
- This initiative has helped to gain the passenger confidence and the committee desired that such facilities should be made available to passengers at other stations too.
- The committee expressed its satisfaction towards its maintenance & other facilities available at the station.
- In June 2021, IRSDC started an emergency-cum-generic medicine outlet at the Secunderabad Railway Station.
- The outlet is situated on platform 1 in the general waiting hall and caters to the emergency medical needs of passengers.
Facility Management at railway stations:
- IRSDC has been entrusted with the mandate to undertake Facility Management at five railway stations, namely, KSR Bengaluru, Pune, Anand Vihar, Chandigarh and Secunderabad, to enhance customer experience and make travel a safe and hassle-free experience.
- IRSDC is committed to redefine passenger experience and set a benchmark in the development, redevelopment, operation and maintenance of railway stations in India.
- IRSDC has many firsts to its credit in the facility management, including ‘Water from Air’ Water Vending Machine, Fit India Squat Kiosk, Eat Right Station with the highest rating, digital locker, generic medicine shop, mobile charging kiosk, a retail store by a start-up and a food truck.
- Shortly, IRSDC will be undertaking Facility Management of 90 more stations in a phased manner.
- IRSDC is also driving the agenda of station redevelopment envisioned by the Government of India, with the participation of private players as a part of PPP projects.
- As part of this agenda, work on the redevelopment of 125 stations is in progress.
- Out of this, IRSDC is working on 63 stations, and RLDA is working on 60 stations and two remaining stations by Railways itself.
- As per current estimates, the total investment needed for the redevelopment of 125 stations along with real estate development is about Rs 50,000 crore.
About IRSDC:
- Indian Railway Stations Development Corporation Ltd. (IRSDC) is a Joint venture company of RLDA, RITES and IRCON. IRSDC is at the core of Indian Railway’s mission of transforming the country’s railway stations into world-class 24×7 hubs and is the Nodal Agency and the main Project Development Agency (PDA) for the redevelopment of Railway stations.
- To fast track the redevelopment of Railway Stations and harness the true value of commercial development, the following tools have been developed by IRSDC/MoR to streamline all processes for planning, designing, tendering, implementation and management of Railway Stations in India:
- Model Agreements for Station redevelopment and Station Facility Management;
- Harmonized Guidelines for Standards of Accessibility & Provisions of Facilities for Persons with Disabilities (Divyangjan) in Indian Railways – by MoR
- Form-based codes for Commercial Development within Railway Land, comprising of:
- Codes for Station Area Layout Regulating Plans.
- Codes for Property Development Cards (Commercial Development).
- Codes for Architectural Design within Commercial Development.
- Codes for Green Buildings within Commercial Development.
- Handbook for Preparation of Layout Regulating Plans and Property Development Cards.
- Codes for up-gradation of Heritage Railway Assets (For full project lifecycle);
- With the application of these tools developed by IRSDC/MoR, the availability of public areas in Railopolis shall increase, thus making such redeveloped railway stations as true “City Centres”.
Source: IRSDC-Press Release | Image Credit (representational): MoR
