The Indian Railways has established a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) to modernise the railway stations in the country, and to maximise their potential as revenue generators. Two subsidiaries of the Railways, Ircon International Limited and Rail Land Development Authority, recently signed an MoU to form the SPV called Railway Stations Development Corporation. The corporation will explore using Railways’ land and air space in the stations to achieve its objective. As a part of the initiative, the Railways plans to provide easy access to platforms, making platforms congestion-free, and establishing restaurants, hotels, modern catering facilities and shopping plazas at railway stations. Initially railway stations in metropolitan cities will be taken up, with stations in other cities gradually to be added later on. The project does not involve any privatisation of railway land as all properties and assets will continue to remain part of the railways. About 8,000 Railway stations in the country stand to benefit under the project.
