Indian railway stations now a story that’s ‘dynamic, not stationary’. Here’s how…

New Delhi: Minister of Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw recently outlined the scale and progress of India’s ongoing railway station redevelopment drive.

In Lok Sabha on Thursday, he said, “I would like to inform the entire House and the nation that in the last 11 years, the Prime Minister has taken up a new initiative to redevelop stations under the Amrit Bharat Station Scheme, which is the biggest programme for redevelopment of stations by any country in the entire world.”

“More than 1,300 stations are being redeveloped; work on 160 stations has been completed, and this is different from the old-styled traditional methods of working where only dyeing and painting was treated as station development. Today, we are working with a sincere master plan, giving importance to local architecture, making way for entry on both sides, creating passenger halls and FOBs, and planning it for the upcoming next 50 years,” he added.

Vaishnaw also highlighted the improved access areas, expanded parking zones and new passenger-handling arrangements. Citing the example of the New Delhi Railway Station holding area prepared during Diwali and Chhath Puja, he noted how thousands of passengers were able to wait comfortably while accessing railway facilities during peak festive rush. Focusing on enhanced cleanliness across stations, the Minister said hygiene levels have significantly improved compared to the situation 15 years ago, creating “a new standard” for public infrastructure.

PM Modi had launched the redevelopment works of a new batch of Amrit Bharat Stations earlier this year in June in which a total number of 103 stations were launched from Bikaner, Rajasthan through video conferencing.

This was marking another milestone in the nationwide modernisation push. These stations, planned with upgraded facades, improved circulation areas, sustainable building features and multimodal integration, are part of the broader initiative to create world-class, future-ready railway hubs across the country.