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Dimapur, Oct. 3 (EMN): The Indian Railways is planning to build a world class railway station in Dimapur in the next couple of years, said Additional General Manager of Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) Rahul Gautam.
In an interaction with the media at the Dimapur Railway Station on Monday, Gautam said he was in the state to discuss the world class station plan and locations as Dimapur has been declared for establishment of such a facility.
Updating about the ambitious project, he said ‘they have placed a consultant who will study on the land requirements and architecture; once the consultant submits the plan and is approved, they will decide what is to be done’.
“Our target is to complete (the project) by December 2024,” he informed, adding that work would begin once the architecture and agency to be implemented are finalised. ‘Once the consultant gives the report, everything will start,’ he added.
Sharing more about the proposed world class railway station, the NFR official said the facility will be on the line an airport with separate entry and exit points. ‘The planning has to be such that the station will also generate revenue,’ he said, adding that they will create lots of commercial spaces so that the station becomes a part of normal places where the common can visit and not only for travellers.
‘We are even planning to have multiplexes in the station, and it will be a modern station with lots of commercial activity,’ he continued.
While maintaining that the idea of building a world class railway station is to meet the demand of the public, Gautam said the requirement of train and space depends on the population and growth plan of the state government and such elements will be taken into account.
He said that the Indian Railways will create an infrastructure and a platform which will be able to address all the present issues as well as the future.
When asked about the estimated cost of the proposed project, he replied that they are still in the planning stage and will prepare the outlay based on the plan after the consultation and study are done.
Meanwhile, he said the cost wouldn’t be a constraint as the government of India has decided to make it a world class station and so it will bear the expenditure.
When asked about the ongoing land encroachment issue, he replied that he had been informed about 22 ongoing court cases related to some people supposedly built houses on the land belonging to the Railways. But since they are under court cases, let the court decide, he added.