SMC, Railways to upgrade station

SURAT, April 21: The Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) and the Railways have decided to work jointly to provide better facilities at the Sur...

SURAT, April 21: The Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) and the Railways have decided to work jointly to provide better facilities at the Surat Railway station. SMC officials and rail authorities, in meetings held in the past couple of days, discussed various measures to give the station a facelift.

City Mayor Navneet Jariwala and Municipal Commissioner S Jagadeesan also discussed pending issues with rail authorities during two rounds of meetings.

In a major decision, the SMC architects have been asked to prepare a master plan for the development of the railway station, and the report is expected soon.

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City MP and Union Textiles Minister Kashiram Rana also held meetings with railway officials on Sunday evening and expressed his concern at the dirt and filth around the station and lack of adequate facilities at the station itself.

DRM, Western Railway Pankaj Malviya and other senior rail officials including R D Sharma, B J Agarwal were also present for the meeting.

The SMC has also offered to set up a three-tier parking complex outside the station to ease traffic congestion. At present, roads approaching the station have been declared one-way to avoid rush.

In another decision, the SMC has also agreed to help the railways with its expertise in cleaning up the platforms and railtracks. More garbage bins will be kept at the station to keep it clean.

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Among other issues discussed include increasing facilities and counters at the computerised reservation centre, constructing at least eight platforms and upgrading infrastructure on the platforms.