Amrit Bharat Station Scheme: Government identified 1,275 Railway Stations

Amrit Bharat Station Scheme: The Indian Government has identified 1,275 Railway Stations under the “Amrit Bharat Station Scheme” for the upgradation/modernization of Indian Railway Stations. These stations include:123 in Maharashtra state, 87 in Gujarat state, 86 in Bihar state, 82 in Rajasthan state, 72 in Andhra Pradesh state 55 in Karnataka state, 49 in the Assam state, 4 in Tripura state and 1 station each in the state of Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Manipur and Sikkim. Indian Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav gave this information in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha on March 29.

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Amrit Bharat Station Scheme: Key Objectives

The Key objective of Amrit Bharat Station Scheme is given below:

• This scheme is to prepare a master plan for railway stations, upgrading facilities and creating roof plazas and city centers at the station premises in the long-term.
• Widening of roads, removal of unwanted structures, properly designed signage, dedicated walkaways, modernization of parking areas, better lightning e.t.c
• Improvement of escalators/lifts, toilets in stations, free Wi-Fi, kiosks for local products through schemes like ‘One Station One Product’, better passenger information systems, 5G Mobile Tower, Executive Lounges, nominated spaces for business meetings, landscaping etc. keeping in view the necessity at each station.
• The scheme also focus on the improvement of building, integrating the station with both sides of the city, multimodal integration, special facilities for the disabled, sustainable and environment friendly solutions, provision of slab tracks.
• The scheme also covers the upgradation of high level platforms of 600 meters.

Important Points for Competitive Exams

• The Indian Railways Ministry has launched  a new scheme for modernizing 1,275 railway stations across country named “Amrit Bharat Station Scheme” in December 2022 in order to improve infrastructure and enhance passenger experience.
• Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav stressed on the modernization of existing infrastructure. In this context, the redevelopment of railway stations is of immense importance.
• The allocation of funds for the development and maintenance of stations is done zonal Railway-wise.
• While each station will have a customized cost plan, per rough estimates the redevelopment of each station will cost  between Rs 10-20 crore.

Union Minister of Railway – Shri Ashwini Vaishnav

Chairman & CEO of Indian Railway – Anil Kumar Lahoti

As of 2022, There are total 18+1=19 Railway Zones in India with the South Coast Railway zone as the newest zone.