Chandigarh: Escalators, co-working space & food court, railway station set for revamp

Radhika Pasrija

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Chandigarh, January 25

Redevelopment work at the Chandigarh railway station, which is being carried out at an outlay of Rs 500 crore and has engaged over 1,000 personnel, is a lighthouse modular project (a small-scale project for future digital transformation). Other Amrit Bharat railway stations will be redeveloped along the same lines. Expected to be structurally completed by April, the railway station will have 11 escalators, 27 elevators and an intensive security and surveillance system, including high-resolution CCTV cameras, door-frame metal detectors and baggage scanners.

The project will have state-of-the-art station buildings (G+3) on the Chandigarh and Panchkula sides, under which book stalls, souvenir shops and executive lounges will come up on the ground floor. Besides, 16 ticket or enquiry counters, nine accessible from outside and seven from inside, will be installed on both sides.

The mezzanine (intermediate) floor on the Chandigarh side will be meant for co-working spaces or retail shops, depending on which plan would fetch more income, while the one on the Panchkula side will have retiring rooms and dormitories.

The three most important elements of the project are an air concourse, foot overbridges (FOBs) and a ‘through roof’ structure. The air concourse that will connect the second floors of station buildings on both sides will be used as a waiting area. A food court, a cloak room, kiosks, retail shops and enquiry counters will be set up there.

According to some sources, there will be enough space to accommodate 1,500 departing passengers. And it will be directly connected to platforms to avoid overcrowding there. The current capacity of 35,000 will be increased to 1,07,000 as part of the redevelopment project. Two FOBs, each of 12-m width, will be launched on both ends of the station with the air concourse. The overbridges, which will be used by the arriving passengers, will be connected with the station buildings. The third element, the ‘through roof’, will cover the entire area of the air concourse and FOBs.

An expansive area has been allotted for parking facilities on both sides. Space will be arranged for buses, cars, three-wheelers, two-wheelers, cycles, VIPs and staff members.

16 ticket/enquiry counters each on both sides

• The project will have state-of-the-art station buildings (G+3) on the Chandigarh and Panchkula sides, under which book stalls, souvenir shops and executive lounges will come up on the ground floor
• Besides, 16 ticket or enquiry counters, nine accessible from outside and seven from inside, will be installed on both sides
• The intermediate floor on the Chandigarh side will be meant for co-working spaces or retail shops, depending on plan that would fetch more income