Rs 86 cr needed to make Sabarmati rly station self-sufficient terminus
Ahmedabad Division has sent a proposal to this effect to the Railway Board for approval
By Yogesh Avasthi
Posted On Saturday, June 12, 2010 (http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article§name=News%20-%20City§id=3&contentid=2010061220100612024431658636dbe1d)
Sabarmati railway station needs an investment of Rs 86 crore to emerge as the city’s alternative terminus. Ahmedabad Division has sent a proposal to this effect to the Railway Board for approval.
While the expansion plan of Sabarmati station is on track, officials want to create basic facilities for washing and maintenance of coaches at the station before starting new trains from there.
“We have prepared a Rs 86-crore project, that includes Rs 21 crore for sickline and Rs 65 crore for coaching depot. We are awaiting the Railway Board’s approval,” said Divisional Railway Manager Ashok Garud.
Sickline and coaching depot will enable officials to wash and maintain coaches of the trains originating and terminating at Sabarmati.The officials want the project to be merged with the Ahmedabad-Himmatnagar-Udaipur gauge conversion project which is already under way.
If the proposal is approved by March 2011, by 2013 Sabarmati can start functioning like a terminus, that is, trains can originate and terminate there.
Developing Sabarmati has become almost an imperative for Ahmedabad Division as the main terminus at Kalupur has been exploited to its potential and there is no scope for development. Incidentally, attempts have been made in the past to develop Sabarmati, but they got stalled due to some reason or the other.
The divisional railway manager had earlier sent a proposal to the Railway Board requesting it to allow five new trains that currently stop at Ahmedabad Railway Station to also stop at Sabarmati Railway Station.
These trains are Rajdhani Express, Ranakpur Express, Porbandar-Motiyari Express, Pune-Jodhpur Express and Jammu Tavi Express. These trains will have a two to five minutes stopover. Right now, trains travelling to north India — Haridwar Express, Ashram Express and Aravalli Express — pass through Sabarmati station.
If the proposal is accepted then people travelling to places like Delhi, Rajasthan and Punjab can board trains at Sabarmati instead of Kalupur.
The Ahmedabad division has for long wanted to replace Kalupur station with the Sabarmati station as the terminus for the city with a view to making it accessible for citizens living in the western part.
The Railway Board has rejected the proposal thrice in the past saying the cost involved, Rs 30 crore, was too high for a project involving a single station.
By Yogesh Avasthi
Posted On Saturday, June 12, 2010 (http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article§name=News%20-%20City§id=3&contentid=2010061220100612024431658636dbe1d)
Sabarmati railway station needs an investment of Rs 86 crore to emerge as the city’s alternative terminus. Ahmedabad Division has sent a proposal to this effect to the Railway Board for approval.
While the expansion plan of Sabarmati station is on track, officials want to create basic facilities for washing and maintenance of coaches at the station before starting new trains from there.
“We have prepared a Rs 86-crore project, that includes Rs 21 crore for sickline and Rs 65 crore for coaching depot. We are awaiting the Railway Board’s approval,” said Divisional Railway Manager Ashok Garud.
Sickline and coaching depot will enable officials to wash and maintain coaches of the trains originating and terminating at Sabarmati.The officials want the project to be merged with the Ahmedabad-Himmatnagar-Udaipur gauge conversion project which is already under way.
If the proposal is approved by March 2011, by 2013 Sabarmati can start functioning like a terminus, that is, trains can originate and terminate there.
Developing Sabarmati has become almost an imperative for Ahmedabad Division as the main terminus at Kalupur has been exploited to its potential and there is no scope for development. Incidentally, attempts have been made in the past to develop Sabarmati, but they got stalled due to some reason or the other.
The divisional railway manager had earlier sent a proposal to the Railway Board requesting it to allow five new trains that currently stop at Ahmedabad Railway Station to also stop at Sabarmati Railway Station.
These trains are Rajdhani Express, Ranakpur Express, Porbandar-Motiyari Express, Pune-Jodhpur Express and Jammu Tavi Express. These trains will have a two to five minutes stopover. Right now, trains travelling to north India — Haridwar Express, Ashram Express and Aravalli Express — pass through Sabarmati station.
If the proposal is accepted then people travelling to places like Delhi, Rajasthan and Punjab can board trains at Sabarmati instead of Kalupur.
The Ahmedabad division has for long wanted to replace Kalupur station with the Sabarmati station as the terminus for the city with a view to making it accessible for citizens living in the western part.
The Railway Board has rejected the proposal thrice in the past saying the cost involved, Rs 30 crore, was too high for a project involving a single station.
