Passengers thrilled with world class station proposal, want deadline

New Delhi News.Net
Friday 3rd July, 2009 (IANS)

With five stations in the state slated to be upgraded to global standards in Railways Minister Mamata Banerjee's budget Friday, people in Uttar Pradesh are delighted but want a deadline to be set for the job.

Though it is not known what exactly global facilities would entail, amongst the 50 stations to be made world class are Lucknow, Kanpur, Varanasi, Agra Cantonment and Mathura.

'It's really a privilege for UP where as many as five railway stations would be developed into world-class railway stations,' said Anirudh Chawla, a resident of Aliganj locality in Lucknow.

'Though rail authorities are still to clarify what facilities would be offered to the passengers at these world-class stations, we can at least look forward to clean toilets, pure drinking water and hygienic eateries,' Chawla told IANS.

The move, people hope, would also attract more foreign tourists, particularly to Varanasi, Agra and Mathura.

'The three cities in Uttar Pradesh are the main tourist spots in the state and witness the arrival of foreign tourists almost round-the-year. Now, with the railway stations in the three cities set for a major facelift, the influx of tourists is bound to grow,' said Manoj Dixit, a faculty member of Lucknow University's tourism department.

People in the state want a deadline though.

'After the announcement by the railways minister, now it is to be seen when world-class railway stations become a reality for Uttar Pradesh. We want that the government fix a stipulated time for transforming railway stations into world-class stations,' said Himanshu Rai, a research scholar in the Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Medical Institute in Lucknow.

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