Western Railway to redevelop Sabarmati Station on the theme of the Historic Dandi March

Ahmedabad (Gujarat) : Sabarmati is a world-renowned city due to its association with Mahatma Gandhi and the Ashram established by him on the banks of the Sabarmati river. Western Railway’s Sabarmati railway station is the nearest railhead to this edifice of national importance. Hence, Indian Railways has taken the onus of redeveloping this station into an iconic futuristic railway station. It is pertinent to mention that Railways is redeveloping more than 200 railway stations into world-class terminals with modern amenities so that even a common railway passenger experiences a comfortable, convenient and enjoyable rail travel

As a tribute to the Father of our Nation, Indian Railways is remodeling the Sabarmati station on the theme of Dandi March. The station design incorporates various aspects deeply associated with Gandhi ji such as Charkha and also the historic Dandi March. The station design has been imbibed with architectural ambiance, ensuring that the entire station premises present a unified theme through aesthetic façade and color scheme, thereby providing a pleasing ambiance. The miniature model of the station has been displayed at Sabarmati station so that passengers can get an overall look & feel of the upcoming station.

According to a press release issued by Sumit Thakur – Chief Public Relations Officer of Western Railway, it is worth mentioning that the redevelopment work of Sabarmati station has started and is progressing in full swing. The work of redevelopment is being undertaken by Western Railway at sanctioned cost of Rs 334.92 crore and is targeted to be completed by August 2025.  The EPC tender for the work has been awarded in August 2022 and The tender for Project Management Services (PMS) has also been awarded in November’2022. The Geotechnical Investigations, Site Survey and Utility Mapping have been completed.

Giving further details Thakur informed that Sabarmati station consists of two stations, viz SBT (West Side) and SBI (East Side) located on two sides of the same Railway yard. The West side station (SBT) handles traffic from Viramgam and Bhavnagar to Ahmedabad while the East side station (SBI) handles traffic from Delhi to Ahmedabad and further to Mumbai. With a view to decongest Ahmedabad  Station, Railways have planned to create an alternate coaching terminal for Delhi bound trains by redeveloping Sabarmati railway station. Sabarmati station is being redeveloped in such a way to have an integration of all transport modes in the vicinity of station. It will be connected to High speed Railway station and  hub, Sabarmati and AEC Metro stations, BRTS, AMTS through skywalks. It will create smooth interchange for passengers using these modes of transport.

Sabarmati railway station is being upgraded & redeveloped into a well-designed station with adequate areas for various amenities & facilities. The plan includes segregated Arrival / Departure Passenger Plazas, Congestion free & conflict-free Entry / Exits in Station Premises, underground parking arrangements, etc. The total built up area of construction is approx. 19,582 sq. mt at SBI and approx. 3,568 sq. mt at SBT with enough space of circulation, concourse, waiting space, etc. The concourse / waiting spaces will consist of passenger amenities & facilities, above the platforms to avoid overcrowding on platforms. The railway station will be equipped with facilities for Divyangjans, making it 100% Divyang Friendly. The station building will be Green Building with features for efficient use of energy, water and other resources, use of renewable energy, etc. The station will also be equipped with the state-of-the-art safety & security technology consisting of intelligently designed features for better station management.

Western Railway’s Gandhinagar Capital station in Gujarat was the first station over Indian Railways to be redeveloped into a world class station, the other two being Rani Kamalapati, near Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh and Sir M. Visvesvaraya Terminal in Bengaluru, Karnataka. Further, the work of redevelopment is being undertaken at 6 stations over WR namely Somnath, Surat, Udhna, New Bhuj, Ahmedabad as well as Sabarmati station.