Prime Minister Narendra Modi, along with Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu, laid the foundation stone for a £25.4 million, 300-room five star hotel project at the Gandhinagar Railway Station. The hotel is touted to be hi-tech and passenger-friendly. Tenders have also been issued for the re-development project of 23 railway stations across the country. Prabhu said the stations marked for re-development include Habibganj in Madhya Pradesh and Ludhiana and Amritsar in Punjab.
Modi said that while the railway's share in freight transportation in India was 15 per cent to 20 per cent, it was around 70 per cent in other countries. He said the Indian Railways is working to reverse the trend. Railway electrification projects have been undertaken, Modi informed. "Earlier the railway ministry was offered as a perk to political parties joining a coalition", but now, importance was being accorded to railways, he said.
The PM said projects of the sector are being taken up expeditiously and that a major effort is on to make railway journeys safe-including designing safe coaches. Railway projects in the country had attracted the maximum foreign direct investment, he said. Gujarat government had recently formed a special purpose vehicle for the speedy implementation of redevelopment of this station. The SPV, known as the Gandhinagar Railway and Urban Development Company Ltd, is a government company. The station will have three platforms, and two railway tracks will be designated for trains that don't halt at the station.
