Railway station redevelopment and modernisation is one of the key programmes under implementation by Indian Railways. It was launched to tackle the various challenges faced by passengers while alighting or deboarding trains. The main aim of upgrading stations is to provide ease of movement to passengers and increase amenities. At a recent India Infrastructure conference, industry experts deliberated on the design, planning and key features of the ongoing station redevelopment and upgradation programme…
Bikramjiet Kukreja
The massive scale of railway station redevelopment and upgradation undertaken by Indian Railways is unprecedented. To a layman, station development and redevelopment might look the same. However, in reality, the two are completely different owing to their technical variances. Dovetailing of the existing infrastructure with the new infrastructure without having clarity of the entire vision of upgradation is one of the key issues faced while implementing a railway station redevelopment project. Vision planning of a station redevelopment project is as important as the actual execution. It is important to deal with two phases of the project as a continuation and not two independent designs wherein the requirements would be different. Comprehensive planning is essential as it entails the development of the infrastructure in a manner that will serve the country for the next 30 years. Another key challenge is the detailing of the fire and safety norms. A station needs to have its fire and evacuation plan designed in a manner that it services the present as well the future. Calculating evacuation numbers comes as an engineering responsibility to the mechanical, electrical and plumbing consultants. The materials being used in station redevelopment should be well audited and checked as the life of millions can be at stake in case of a casualty. It is essential to develop and construct station buildings as special buildings given that they are bound to face very high vibration loads as compared to normal buildings. This calls for high expertise on the part of electrotechnical engineers. Station redevelopment works, along with being architectural marvels, should be well engineered as 20-25 per cent of the building cost goes into the electrotechnical aspect. Yet another bottleneck is the lack of support from the city and state governments for this kind of infrastructure.
At present, there is no standardisation for the redevelopment of railway stations. With no benchmark present, it is essential that station redevelopment and modernisation is a guided effort. The designing should be done optimally and in a manner that real estate development and leasing of station kiosks go hand in hand. It is also imperative that railway stations incorporate international best practices from countries such as Japan for redevelopment.
Shubhra Mittal
Improving the overall user experience is the prime objective behind any kind of infrastructure redevelopment project. The idea of station redevelopment is to minimise everyday problems faced by passengers. With this concept in mind, it is essential that the redeveloped stations have proper access provisions for people with disabilities, the elderly and children. Under station redevelopment, the spaces are so planned that there are systematic entries and exits to the stations. Crowd management and manoeuvring (with or without signages) are other important aspects that are dwelled upon while working on such projects. Segregated arrival and departure space further enhance the ease of travel for passengers and hence are an important design element that need to be incorporated. The upcoming redeveloped stations are suitable for all weather conditions.
Dealing with emergency situations such as stampedes or fires is an important part of planning. It is imperative to prepare for emergency situations at stations given that they have huge footfall. Preparing an evacuation plan and proper planning for fire outages is an important component. To that end, there is a requirement of placing an exit staircase at every 90 metres.
Another extremely important feature of station redevelopment is multimodal integration. Somewhere in the design it is essential to incorporate features such as pedestrian walkways that take them to bus depots and metro stations. The design should be such that any passenger who needs to board a train is at the centre of the station while the one exiting should be at the periphery. This will allow minimal overlap of passengers on any station, thereby minimising chaos. Under station redevelopment and upgradation, services such as accessible washrooms, feeding rooms and medical rooms are also provided.
With provisions of commercial zones and hotels, the built-up area of stations will increase substantially and so will the footfall. This implies that there will be an increased demand for all kinds of resources. It is essential that the additional resources are provisioned only through sustainable measures. Investments need to be made in adopting sustainable methods such as water recycling and management of electricity through solar recharging. Station planning has to be future-ready at this stage as whatever is planned and executed now will be used by generations to come.
An amalgamation of heritage with modern facilities is another design consideration that is being followed while planning station redevelopment projects. It is essential that the station depicts the style and culture of the city. The proposed architectural style of the Gorakhpur railway station is based on the Gorakhnath Temple. Similarly, the design concept of the Ujjain railway station’s façade is inspired by “Mahesvara”. While the entry of the Khajuraho railway station is inspired by temples, the Navsari railway station is inspired by the Dandi March. All these stations have been designed in a manner so that the historic or cultural importance of the city can be gauged from the station itself.
Ravi Ramparia
The main goal of redeveloping and upgrading various railway stations in the country is to improve passenger comfort and amenities. Facade development is a key part of station redevelopment projects. Railway station buildings have more horizontal than vertical space. This gives a lot of opportunities for facade development. The material and technology used for facade development largely determine the overall appearance of the project.
The facade of a station building does not have to follow the trend of using glass or aluminium composite panelling (ACP) only. The design elements used in facade development affect the light, view and privacy inside the building. Moreover, the facade protects the building from the weather while displaying the city’s culture. Railway stations are the gateways to a city for many people who travel by train. Redevelopment projects are mostly brownfield projects that pose functional challenges of integrating the existing infrastructure with the future design. Cost limitation is another challenge. Architects and technical consultants need to overcome these hurdles and create beautiful and unique designs that capture the spirit of a city. The Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, Charbagh Railway Station and Kanpur Central Railway Station are examples of stations having evergreen and eye pleasing architecture façade aesthetics.
Repetition of arches, columns, canopies, etc. are some of the important design elements used in the redeveloped railway stations that are coming up. Canopies provide shade for walkways at the drop-off and pick-up points, which makes it easier for passengers to move around. Another important aspect that is considered is the integration of multimodal transit designs that enable a smooth travel experience. It is important to balance soft and hard landscaping while designing station redevelopment projects. The importance of site development is crucial to overall railway station redevelopment projects.
Among the projects of the firm that are completed or under development, the Jaipur Railway Station is designed to reflect Rajasthani architecture. It has elements such as “baradari” and “jharokha” in its design. The Gandhinagar Capital Railway Station has incorporated elements of the Adalaj Stepwell, which represents the city’s heritage. The facade can be designed with local materials instead of glass or ACP. For example, the Somnath Railway Station is designed such that the use of the local dhrangadhra stone is an important material of its facade. There are stone gazebos where the public can sit and relax outdoors. It also has a cultural and spiritual connect through “shikhar” elements on its roof, representing the 12 Jyotirlingas. Two 40×60 feet LED screens are also a part of the façade, which will show live aarti of all Jyotirlingas in the country.
The responsibility of an architect to design the facade and the architecture built form of the stations is of paramount importance as it will create a favourable impact on the city and its passengers.
