Revamped railway stations can transform small cities: Minister

Stating that railway stations should be made as attractive as airports, a Central Minister today said details of the station redevelopment policy announced in the February Rail Budget will be unveiled soon.
"The policy will concentrate on 'A' category stations which are to be developed as model stations," Minister of State for Railways Manoj Sinha said here.
"While the process for development of the already selected stations would continue, for the rest, we propose to revamp the station redevelopment policy and simplify processes by inviting open bids from interested parties," he said.
Sinha was speaking to reporters after laying the foundation stone of a sports complex at the National Academy of Indian Railways (NAIR) here.

Sinha said the railway station at Dwarka, a famous temple town, will be developed as model station.
So far, 1,052 stations have been identified for upgradation of passenger amenities. It is proposed to include 200 more stations under this scheme, Sinha stated.

Wi-Fi facility is being provided at all 'A1' and 'A' category stations. The facility will be soon extended to 'B' category stations as well under Digital India initiative, the Junior Railway Minister said.
Since a large population travels by trains, stations should be made as attractive as airports, he said.
"A transformed station can change the skyline of small and medium cities, bring in revenues, and also become an incubator of local economy," he added.