Redeveloping western India’s second-busiest railway station

Ahmedabad Railway Station (ADI) in Gujarat, India, is the second busiest station in the western part of India. Its 12 platforms handle over 120 trains and 125,000 passengers daily. However, despite several intervention attempts, the station lacks modern passenger amenities. The location is also the site of two heritage components, which significantly restricts the flexibility of the design.  

Tractebel’s master plan 

Client Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA) awarded Tractebel the contract to carry out the feasibility study, detailed master plan, urban design, engineering and preparation of the detailed project report for the station’s re-development as a multi-modal hub with state-of-the-art amenities. Upgrades must take place while keeping the site’s heritage components intact.  

The station will be redeveloped as a hub with interchange facilities for passengers traveling by high-speed rail, Indian Railways, metro, bus rapid transit (BRT) and other modes of local transport. The total area for development is 125 acres. The project will be built on the model of Design-Build-Finance-Operate-Transfer (DBFOT), for a concession period of 60 years. Our Urban Transport experts began the study phase for this ambitious project on June 28, 2021, and are currently developing the options for the concept master plan. Discussions with stakeholders and site investigations are in progress, and we expect to complete the plan by November 2022.  

 
Ground-level podium around heritage building                     Aerial view of the future Ahmedabad Railway Station

New transport hub on the right track 

The project aims to redevelop the Ahmedabad Railway Station into a modernized transport hub.  The new hub will be built within a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model to achieve self-sustainable railway stations with high standards of safety, comfort, efficiency, user-friendly passenger amenities and value-added services.  

                              Overview of entire Ahmedabad Station area

All aboard the sustainability train 

Designs for development encompass energy-efficient district cooling and heating, and at least 25% of the energy required will come from renewable sources. Green Building provisions will optimize natural ventilation and lighting. 

The design provides a more appropriate social architecture that meets local commuter demands, while simultaneously improving the physical conditions of existing railway stations. Ultimately, the new Ahmedabad station will help make railways a more desirable mode of public transport.