Ludhiana railway station revamp in full swing at ~529 crore

With the work on several components almost complete and the finishing job in progress, the redevelopment and upgrade of the Ludhiana railway station at the cost of Rs 528.95 crore is in the advanced stage of completion, the Northern Railway (NR) has said.

The work on the big ticket central project has gained further steam as the architectural design for the new-look junction has already been approved, the geotechnical investigation, survey and relocation of existing structures have already been completed.

The project, which was awarded at engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) mode to a local firm on December 19 last, has been targeted to be completed by August 2, 2025.

The redevelopment work entails a host of new facilities and upgrade of existing services to give a new and modern look to the British era’s biggest junction in the Ferozepur division, officials have revealed.

The total project cost of Rs 528.95 crore included the contract value of Rs 472.94 crore, project management consultant cost of Rs 4.56 crore and other allied expenditures.

Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had approved the redevelopment and upgrade of the Ludhiana railway station in December 2022 following the demand raised by Rajya Sabha MP Sanjeev Arora. He had met the minister to demand major infrastructure uplift and revamp of the junction while highlighting its poor state. The development assumes significance as it was the first major revamp of the railway station established here, way back in 1860.

A visit to the site on Saturday revealed that the structural work of the multi-level car parking has been completed 95 per cent and its finishing job was in full swing.

The east side main station building superstructure erection was in progress with the erection and launching of structure columns and beams in progress.

With the relocation and utility shifting works on the west side station building completed, the foundation work was in progress.

The construction of the elevated approach road was also in the advanced stage of completion with 183 of the total 193 piling work, 26 of 48 pile caps, 21 of 48 piers, and one pier cap as well already completed. The superstructure was under fabrication.

The east side underground tank structure work has been done while the foundation work of concourse and foot overbridges at platform 1 has also been completed. Railways officials said island platform traffic blocks had been planned from October onwards.

The foundations of through roof, cover over platform 1, structural work for construction of multi-storied quarters Type-II (A and B blocks) have been completed before initiating the finishing job.

Other jobs already completed included terrace floor of type-II C block quarters, fourth floor slab of type-II D block quarters, structural work and AAC block work of rest house and hospital building.

The construction of type-III E and F blocks and type-IV multi-storied quarters was also in progress. This followed after the architectural design for the redevelopment and upgrade of the railway station was approved.

Construction and allied works have been expedited on the ground after the geotechnical investigation, survey work and the work involving relocation of existing facilities were completed.

Besides, 90 per cent of the approvals for the structural and 80 per cent of the MEP designs have also been granted so far.

The railway station development work involved relocation of 130 existing quarters, rest house, hospital, main station building and railway offices for clearance of the site for construction of the main and secondary entry of the new station building.