BENGALURU: Indian Railways on Wednesday invited a Rs 442-crore tender for upgradation of Cantonment railway station under engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) model.
The tender is likely to be finalised by July-end and work expected to be completed in three years. TOI on May 25 highlighted the plan in an article, ‘Lounges and more, Bengaluru’s oldest railway station may go world-class’. Officials said they decided to go for EPC mode since the PPP model for state redevelopment work was taking a long time.
Under EPC, the contractor is responsible for design, procurement, construction, commissioning and handover of a project. The Centre had earlier decided to collect user development fee at redeveloped railway stations via tickets, just like in airports. Cantonment station, which began operations in 1864, is Bengaluru’s first railway station. The redeveloped structure is expected to provide an airport-like experience to passengers and other visitors with a slew of modern amenities like air-conditioned waiting areas and retail spaces.’
Protect heritage structure: Passengers
Many passengers want the railways to protect the station’s heritage structure. Anakin K, a passenger, tweeted: “Tokyo has one of the most-modern railway stations in the world but also has traditional Japanese architecture and heritage. Hope railways takes a similar approach in Bengaluru Cantonment Station. It should have Dravidian/Neo-Dravidian architecture.” Rajkumar Dugar, a Vasanthnagar resident, wrote: “To avoid repeat of Sir MV terminal at Byappanahalli in terms of local commute to & from station, connectivity issues need to be addressed at Cantonment. A proper long FOB from the upcoming Metro station at Bamboo Bazaar needs to be implemented. Else we will not learn from past mistakes.”
SWR officials said the station will be redeveloped by maintaining its heritage and facilities will be upgraded as per airport standards.
