Lalu wants world class railway stations in India

The Indian Railways wants to upgrade the New Delhi station (followed by others) to world class standards. Hon’ble Railway Minister Lalu Prasad announced this sometime ago and the railways seems to be moving ahead. An excerpt from the Financial Express

Swanky railway stations without the hustle and bustle and chaos that characterises them today. That’s what the railway ministry hopes to achieve some time in the near future, beginning with the New Delhi railway station. The proposal was announced by railway minister Lalu Prasad Yadav last year, when he promised upgradation of 16 major stations and making them “truly world class”.

The ministry’s agenda has got a big boost with the Prime Minister’s Committee on Infrastructure (CoI) in June this year, clearing the modernisation of the New Delhi station by 2010, just in time for the wave of sports aficionados that will visit the national capital for the Commonwealth Games.

That fact that we really have far to go hit me when I went to the Victoria railway station in London yesterday. Its a fantastic railway station and will even put a lot of airports around the world to shame. I hope Lalu Prasad has sent some officials to check out the railway stations in the UK/Europe. I’m all in favour of opening the minds of our head-in-the-sand babus by sending them on foreign “study” tours. Though there is more tourism and less “study” in these tours I think its still worth it.

Compare with the ticket counters in any Mumbai station…