Stations to be New Icons for Indian Cities: Railways Minister

At a conference, Suresh Prabhu has informed that 400 railway stations will be revamped into iconic structures.

(Photo: The News Minute)

In continuation of its ongoing efforts of building 100 smart cities across the country, the central government now plans to bring to reality smart stations that will serve as icons to Indian cities.

Railways Minister, Suresh Prabhu, speaking at the Smart City conference has informed that 400 railway stations across the country will be revamped into iconic structures as a station is a starting point of any city, and attracts maximum footfalls.

“We are making plans to redevelop 400 stations as new icons of cities. The process has already been started in this regard.

Suresh Prabhu, Railway Minister

Talking about the government’s future plans, he said that the government has taken steps to develop 100 cities as ‘Smart Cities’ in the country and since stations are the beginning of any city, they will also be developed as “smart stations”.

The Railways plans to achieve this with private participation and is planning to re-develop these stations to provide improved passengers amenities.

Habibganj station in Bhopal will be taken up first and then eight more stations will also be re-developed.

Referring to the issue of massive migration that urban cities face, Prabhu said, “Like China, massive urbanisation has taken place in India. Millions have migrated to cities. People migrate because of jobs, opportunities and better facilities in cities. So we need smart ideas to make a city better.”