Railway station to resemble Connaught Place

The New Delhi Railway Station may soon resemble a modern shopping complex with a swanky building coming up at its Ajmeri Gate section that will blend Lutyen's classic architecture with a state-of-the-art terminal and passenger facilities.

"The Ajmeri Gate side of the station alone accounts for two-thirds of passenger traffic and a major expansion work has been undertaken to facilitate the growing number of passengers," said Northern Railway General Manager Shri Prakash.

"It has been designed keeping in mind the landscape and history of the area so that it blends well with the neighbouring Lutyen's zone. The pillars and arches of the new structures resemble those in Connaught Place," he said, referring to the nearby central market built during the British Raj.

New Delhi Railway Station is the the country's busiest, handling 275 trains and four lakh passengers daily. The new terminal, spread over 6,000 sq metres, will be three-storeyed, with attractions including food plazas, shopping malls, cyber cafes, a VIP lounge, a salon, a beauty parlour, ATMs, an international tourist bureau, high-speed lifts and escalators and foreign exchange counters.

Since the station has been selected to become a world-class railway station by 2010, the development of the Ajmeri Gate section will become a part of this process, Prakash said. The number of platforms has been increased from 12 to 16 to decongest the station, he added.

The station was inaugurated by the country's first President, Dr Rajendra Prasad, on April 16, 1956. "There was a single platform and the station's earnings were Rs 1 lakh per day at that time. Now it has gone up to about Rs 1 crore a day," said a Northern Railway official.

The number of passengers is expected to rise to five lakh during the peak season by 2010, along with a significant rise in trains. "We have to remodel and develop the station keeping in mind the growth," said the official.

The ground floor of the new structure, adjacent to platform No 12, will have 20 ticket counters and arrival and departure lounges. The first floor would have departure halls for passengers with reserved tickets while the top floor would have retiring rooms and air-conditioned dormitories, tourist offices and offices of railway officials.

There would be 17 escalators and 15 elevators connecting all floors and a common counter for Metro and railway tickets at the Ajmeri Gate entrance as the station is being integrated with the Metro service.

Besides 16 platforms, the station would have 14 washing lines and an equal number of stabling lines. Another important aspect of the new building is that the arrival and departure of passengers would be separated to ensure smooth flow of traffic. Multi-level parking lots which can accomodate around 6,000 cars are also planned to be built.