Helipads, hotel, retail zone among world class amenities
Project to upscale socio-economic profile of holy town
Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, July 12: The work on inter-modal station having world class amenities like helipads, hotel, retail zones and food courts is likely to begin in the month of December this year and the project will go a long way in up-scaling the socio-economic profile of the holy town and its adjoining areas.
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The announcement about an inter model station at Katra as a terminal infrastructure to integrate various transportation modes such as rail, road and air was made on March 13, 2023 following which the process of suitable land in the Katra town was initiated.
Finally, 256 kanals of land was identified and acquired and Detailed Project Report (DPR) prepared by the National Highways Logistics Management Limited, a 100% owned Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) of National Highways Authority of India established to develop, construct, establish, operate and maintain connectivity projects.
“At present, the Detailed Project Report along with tender is under submission to the Board of Directors of National Highways Logistics Management Limited and following approval of the Board the tender will be floated for allotment of contract for construction of inter-modal station and most probably the work will begin in the month of December this year”, reliable sources told EXCELSIOR.
They said that project, which will be executed on Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) mode, will boost commercial development and economic activities, which will significantly up-scale the socio-economic profile of holy town of Katra and its adjoining areas.
The inter-modal stations are terminal infrastructure which integrates various transportation modes like rail, road and mass rapid transit system so that people can move from one mode to another seamlessly with minimum use of automobiles, they added.
Highlighting the key objectives of inter-modal station, they said that it will ensure more convenience and less time for interchange between modes; reduce transportation costs; increase usage of common facilities such as waiting rooms, escalators, concourses etc; increase economic productivity and efficiency; ensure better mobility for elderly and disabled; ensure higher returns due to increased passenger footfall and improved commercial development and reduce energy consumption and environmental pollution.
The inter-modal station will come up on 32 acres of land where entire transport coming to Katra from New Delhi-Amritsar-Jammu-Katra Expressway will land and it will have enough capacity to accommodate the vehicles and ensure smooth entry and exit. The station will integrate various transportation modes of rail, road, air (helipad), bus, auto rickshaws, taxis and private vehicles at a single hub for seamless movement of people from one mode to another.
The primary components and amenities of inter-modal station at Katra will be facilitation centre and yatra registration centre at passenger terminal building, bus terminal, multi-level car parking, commercial facilities—hotel accommodation, retail zone, food court and entertainment/cultural zone.
Moreover, there will be inter-modal connectivity like taxi stand, IPT stand, pick and drop bays, two helipads and ropeway etc. The world class passenger amenities will include passenger lounges, medical facility, pharmacy, baby care etc. Moreover, the existing railway station at Katra will be integrated with inter-modal station through foot-over-bridge.
In response to a question, sources said that in the first phase, which will be completed within two and half years, bus terminal will be constructed and thereafter other facilities will be developed, adding it has been seen that inter-modal stations witness higher footfall than disaggregated transport terminals and facilities are such stations are better managed due to collaboration of multiple entities and commercial development is driven by aggregated footfalls.
Further, shared infrastructure like foot-over-bridges, waiting rooms, concourses, public conveniences lead to reduced investment and land requirement. This also lowers the investment requirements while increasing the overall synergies in the system. At present, satellite railway stations at Ajni in Nagpur and Kashi in Varanasi have been selected for development of inter-modal station in addition to Katra.
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