The railroads have made the decision to upgrade a number of the amenities at 24 stations along the Odisha section of the East Coast Railway (ECoR), with a focus on waiting areas, parking spaces, and other amenities for travellers.
According to sources, the ECoR’s three railway divisions will each receive an upgrade. Sambalpur Division will renovate nine stations, Khurda Road Division will enhance twelve, and Waltair Division will upgrade three.
The stations that have been chosen are Angul, Balugaon, Berhampur, Bhadrak, Dhenkanal, Jajpur-Keonjhar Road, Keonjhar, Khurda Road, Mancheswar, Paradip, Talcher Road, and Talcher (all of which are in the Khurda Road railway division); Jeypore, Koraput, and Paralakhemundi are in the Waltair division; and Jharsuguda Road, Sambalpur.
Nine key projects will be undertaken, according to ECoR sources. In these stations, the railroads will build VIP lounges and waiting areas to improve the passenger experience. It will build a bituminous top road with an RCC drain, walkways, a portico cover shed, and entrance and exit gates.
In addition to establishing parking lots and renovating existing station structures, the project will also take care of the landscaping around the stations. It will install electrical fixtures and provide area illumination. Work on signals and communications will be done, according to a source.
General Manager (in-charge) of ECoR Sharad Kumar Srivastava has stated that stations with amenities akin to airports have been planned for Puri, Bhubaneswar, Visakhapatnam, and Cuttack.
Prasanta Patnaik