Finalised DPR for makeover of railway station expected to be released next month
Passengers coming by own vehicles to the Coimbatore Railway Junction for boarding trains in a rush will have to wait for ease of parking for at least a couple of years, for the fructification of improved facilities under the ₹700 crore makeover plan of Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA) through Public Private Partnership.
The RLDA, according to official sources, is expected to release the finalised Detailed Project Report, that features the blueprint for multilevel parking, next month, whereafter the Railway Board will have to sanction approval for it to move on to the tender stage.
Right now, the parking space at the entrance is quite congested. Abundant
Parking two-wheelers at the Coimbatore Railway Junction is quite an ordeal for passengers in a rush to board trains.
space would have be earmarked for parking of twowheelers and fourwheelers as the plan is to develop a multistoreyed complex with varied commercial attractions for which footfall is the determinant for profitability. As such, there isno timeline for completing the project, sources said.
Vacant land, which is not required by the Rail
ways for its immediate operational needs, is utilsed for commercial development through RLDA, wherever feasible, in order to mobilise additional financial resources. However, at the Coimbatore Junction, there is no plan to acquire additional land, which, in any case, is scarce.
At a consultation meeting conducted with top officials of the district administration, corporation, and the police department last July, the RLDA had outlined its plan to develop the station vertically as a multistoreyed complex with shopping areas, restaurants, and other attractions.
According to K. Jayaraj, Coimbatorebased member of Zonal Railway Users’ Consultative Committee, Southern Railway, the redevelopment project will be complete only if the rail infrastructure is also improved.
The ambit of the DPR must be expanded for serving rail travellers in all ways, Mr. Jayaraj emphasised. In view of the space constraint, the Railways should consider shifting the coaching depot from the Junction to Podanur or any other station with sufficient land, he said.