All-new Rs 728 cr station planned in Bijwasan, even as Shahdara goes to seed

New Delhi, Feb 19 While Shahdara railway station of East Delhi is gathering dust today, the Railways has made preparations to build a terminal at Bijwasan.

After Anand Vihar Terminal in the capital, Northern Railway will construct a new station, named Bijwasan Terminal to relieve the strain on New Delhi and Old Delhi railway stations, the estimated cost of which is Rs 728.92 crore.

A total of Rs 430 crore will be invested to expedite the terminal's construction, of which roughly Rs 310 crore would go towards station construction and passenger amenities. According to railroad officials, this terminal will be completed shortly.

The work of building the Bijwasan terminal has been entrusted to the Railway Land Development Authority (RLDA). The new terminal is being built in 1.24 lakh sq metres, and after its construction, trains will be run from here to Gujarat, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, reducing the pressure on New Delhi, Old Delhi and Hazrat Nizamuddin Railway stations.

Along with this, terminal construction is also being done at Shakur Basti and Holambi Kalan in Delhi. Rs 257.22 crore is estimated to be spent on the construction of former whereas Rs 150 crore has been provided for the freight terminal at Holambi Kalan to be built at a cost of Rs 800 crore. With this amount, the work of land acquisition for the terminal will be completed.

A total of 123 trains on their way to western Uttar Pradesh's Baraut, Shamli, Saharanpur besides Ghaziabad, Meerut, Bihar, Jharkhand and Odisha among other states pass through the station daily.

A lift and an escalator were installed at the station a few years ago in view of the passengers' convenience, but are not in use as of yet.

There are four platforms at this station.

People living closer to the station alleged that both the escalator and the lift are often not working and had not been taken proper care of since the beginning.

In such a situation, the passengers are forced to resort to stairs to change platforms. Many jump on the railway tracks risking their lives to avoid climbing the stairs and reach the other side.

Apart from this, the arrangement for the passengers to sit on the platform is also bad and they remain standing on the platform under compulsion.

However, Shahdara railway station is one of the 13 railway stations that are to be reconstructed under the Amrit Bharat Station Scheme in Delhi.

As per the Railways, Rs 2,477 crore has been given for the development of railway stations in Delhi and for strengthening the railway network.

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