Fastest station redevelopment in Parel, Vikhroli, Byculla & KanjurMarg

The Central Railway officials announced on Sunday that foundation and excavation work had been accelerated for the redevelopment of stations in Parel, Vikhroli, Byculla, and KanjurMarg, as part of the Amrit Bharat station scheme. It was stated that this project would be the fastest to be completed within a year. CR chief spokesperson Shivraj Manaspure remarked that in the past, some station redevelopment work had taken four to five years to complete on a massive scale. He mentioned that most of the excavation and foundation work had been completed by Sunday. He further stated that the four stations would be redeveloped with state-of-the-art design and infrastructure within a year. According to Manaspure, the redevelopment cost of over Rs 1 billion would benefit over 3 lakh footfall of suburban commuters daily. He explained that Parel, catering to the corporate office crowd, would be redeveloped at a cost of Rs 190.4 million, Kanjur Marg, serving IIT, commercial, and housing complexes, would be redeveloped at a cost of Rs 270 million. Vikhroli, which houses industries and IT parks, among other facilities, was being revamped at a cost of Rs 190.2 million, and Byculla station was being redeveloped at a cost of Rs 350.5 million. The project had already been expedited with an architect appointed through an open tender in January. A design for all three stations was ready by March. CR general manager Naresh Lalwani had examined the final plan, and heads of departments modified it before sending it to the Railway Board. The final plan was approved in April, and five to six tenders for bridges, lifts, and other amenities were floated. Contracts were subsequently awarded.