Redeveloped stations will reflect, promote cultural heritage of city: Railway minister

Railway stations are an integral part of culture and peoples day-to-day life and these should reflect, protect and promote an areas cultural heritage, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said, citing redevelopment projects in Ayodhya and Puri.While the architecture of the facade of the redeveloped station in Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh embraces tradition in a line with the upcoming Ram temple there, the redeveloped Puri station will reflect the traditional architectural features of the famed Jagannath Temple.

Railway stations are an integral part of culture and people's day-to-day life and these should reflect, protect and promote an area's cultural heritage, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said, citing redevelopment projects in Ayodhya and Puri.

While the architecture of the facade of the redeveloped station in Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh embraces tradition in a line with the upcoming Ram temple there, the redeveloped Puri station will reflect the traditional architectural features of the famed Jagannath Temple. ''The more you gel a railway station with a city the better it is. Development should be such that cultural heritage should get a place in it. It should be protected and reflected significantly,'' the minister told PTI in Bhubaneswar on Sunday. He was in the city to review its station's redevelopment. In 2021, the Railway Ministry had launched the Amrit Station Scheme. Under it, 1,309 railway junctions are being redeveloped with a special focus on safety and amenities for passengers. Vaishnaw added that it is a planned move to design the stations in such a way that the cultural aspect gets embedded into it. ''Other stations are also being redeveloped with a similar concept,'' he said. When asked about the deadline for completion of the redevelopment work of all the stations, he said that it is a huge and complex project, and though such projects take years to complete, the railway divisions concerned are doing it with ''very good speed''.

''I reviewed the progress of works of the Bhubaneshwar and Cuttack railway stations and I am impressed with the speed with which they are being done,'' Vaishnaw added.

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