Ministry of Railways has launched Amrit Bharat Station Scheme for redevelopment of stations with a long-term approach. The scheme involves preparation of master plans and their implementation in phases to improve the stations.
The master planning includes:
- Improvement of access to station and circulating areas
- Integration of station with both sides of city
- Improvement of station building
- Improvement of waiting halls, toilets, sitting arrangement, water booths
- Provision of wider foot over bridge/air concourse commensurate with passenger traffic
- Provision of lift/escalators/ramp
- Improvement /Provision of platform surface and cover over platforms
- Provision of kiosks for local products through schemes like ‘One Station One Product’
- Parking areas, Multimodal integration
- Amenities for Divyangjans
- Better passenger information systems
- Provision of executive lounges, nominated spaces for business meetings, landscaping, etc. keeping in view the necessity at each station
The scheme also envisages sustainable and environment friendly solutions, provision of ballastless tracks etc. as per necessity, phasing and feasibility and creation of city centre at the station in the long term.
So far, 1337 stations have been identified for development under this scheme. Development works at railway stations under Amrit Bharat Station Scheme have been taken up at a good pace. Till now, works of 155 stations have been completed. Stations are selected based on the proposals received from Zonal Railways, stations located in major cities and places of tourist and pilgrimage importance.
Development / Upgradation / Modernisation of stations including under Amrit Bharat Station Scheme is generally funded under Plan Head-53 ‘Customer Amenities’. The details of allocation and expenditure under Plan Head-53 are maintained Zonal Railway-wise and not work-wise or station-wise or state-wise. The fund allocation of Rs 12,118 crore has been made for the financial year 2025-26 under Plan Head–53 and expenditure (up to October, 2025) of Rs 7,253 crore has been incurred so far.
The station development projects under Amrit Bharat Station Scheme are primarily conceptualized with budgetary support. However, 15 stations have been identified to be explored for development under Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode also and based on the experience gained from the same, further evolution of the scheme is envisaged.
Ministry of Railways is committed to preservation of items of heritage value while planning and execution of redevelopment/modernization of stations. Site specific measures are taken based on the context and condition of the structure/artifact.
Technological improvement in Indian Railways including stations is a continuous process and aspires to democratize the use of technology. It aims to address India centric challenges, create economic and employment opportunities for all Indians.
Further, development / redevelopment / upgradation / modernisation of stations on Indian Railways is a continuous and ongoing process and works in this regard are undertaken as per requirement, subject to inter-se priority and availability of funds. The priority for development / redevelopment / upgradation / modernisation of stations is accorded to higher category of station over lower category of station while sanctioning and executing the works.
Development / Upgradation of railway stations is complex in nature involving safety of passengers & trains and requires various statutory clearances such as fire clearance, heritage, tree cutting, airport clearance etc. The progress also gets affected due to brownfield related challenges such as shifting of utilities (involving water/sewage lines, optical fibre cables, gas pipe lines, power/signal cables, etc.), infringements, operation of trains without hindering passenger movement, speed restrictions due to works carried out in close proximity of tracks and high voltage power lines, etc. and these factors affect the completion time. Therefore, no time frame can be indicated at this stage.
