ABSS: Parliamentary Questions & Answers by Minister for Railways

While replying a question in parliament about ABSS, Minister of Railways said-

Ministry of Railways has recently launched Amrit Bharat Station Scheme (#ABSS). This scheme envisages development of stations on a continuous basis with a long-term approach.

This scheme involves preparation of #MasterPlan and their implementation in phases to improve the amenities at the stations like improvement of #station access, #circulating areas, #waiting halls, #toilets, #lift/#escalators as necessary, #cleanliness, free Wi-Fi, #kiosks for local products through schemes like One Station One Product (#OSOP), better #passenger information systems, Executive Lounges, nominated spaces for business meetings, landscaping etc. keeping in view the necessity at each station.

The scheme also envisages improvement of building, integrating the station with both sides of the city, multimodal integration, amenities for Divyangjans, #sustainable and #environment friendly solutions, provision of #ballastless tracks etc., as per necessity, phasing and feasibility and creation of city centres at the station in the long term.

So far, 1324 stations have been selected under this scheme based on proposals received from Zonal Railways, stations located in major cities and towns.
The details of allocation of funds for #development and #maintenance of stations including for Amrit Bharat Station Scheme are maintained Zonal Railway-wise under Plan Head-53 ‘#Customer Amenities’ and not station-wise, district-wise or State-wise. Total funds allocated under Plan Head-53 to Zonal Railways for the current Financial Year i.e. in 2024-25, is ₹15510.75 crores.

Indian Railways is committed to make its #Railway stations accessible for Persons with Disabilities (#Divyangjan) as part of “Sugamya Bharat Mission” or ‘Accessible India Campaign’ of Government of India.

The guidelines for accessibility of #IndianRailways stations have been notified in the official #Gazette of India. These #guidelines include provisions of Divyangjan related facilities such as entrance ramps, accessible parking, low height ticket counter/help booths, toilets, drinking water booth, sub-ways/foot over bridges with ramps/lifts, standard signages including Braille signages and tactile pathways for visual impairment etc.

Upgradation/modernization and commissioning of stations including development work for Divyangjan on Indian Railways is a continuous and on-going process and works in this regard are undertaken as per requirement, subject to inter-se priority and availability of funds.

Further, development/redevelopment/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, air-port clearance etc.

The progress also gets affected due to brown field 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 high voltage power lines etc. and these factors affect the completion time. Therefore, no time frame can be indicated at this stage.