Kochi: Ernakulam Junction railway station, one of the busiest in Kerala, will be redeveloped by the Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA),  a statutory body under the Ministry of Railways. It has already invited online bids for shortlisting of developers for the redevelopment project.

The station will be developed on a Design, Build, Finance, Operate, Transfer (DBFOT) model, a statement issued by the RLDA said here on Wednesday.

The project cost is estimated to be Rs 229 crore.

The station redevelopment component is scheduled for completion in three years, it stated.

Spanning across 48 acres, Ernakulam Junction Railway Station consists of six platforms and two terminal buildings (the Main entry and the Eastern entry).

The objective of redevelopment is to provide world-class amenities such as departure passenger entry hall, arrival passenger exit hall, baggage security check-in area, an information centre etc to commuters, the statement added.

The project involves two components - the station component or mandatory component, and the commercial component.

RLDA  conducted the online pre-bid meeting for the redevelopment of Ernakulam Railway Station on January 25 and over 15 participants including Kalpataru Group, Anchorage Infrastructure, Adani Group, and GMR Group attended it.

The Ernakulam railway station is located near the bus terminus and is well-connected through public transportation with Kochi.

"Ernakulam South Metro Station has also come up near the Railway Station. The redevelopment of the station will give a fillip to real estate and retail spaces in the vicinity and spur the regional transformation," said Ved Prakash Dudeja, Vice Chairman of RLDA.

The redeveloped station will be endowed with state-of- the-art amenities such as two connecting concourses to both terminals, sufficient in-house retail, food and beverage outlets, and amenities for the old and physically-challenged passengers.

The Concessionaire will be mandated to undertake the up- gradation and redevelopment of the station and development of the surrounding railway land and air space for commercial monetization and revenue generation, followed by operation and maintenance of the station.

The developer will be required to carry out a comprehensive mobility plan within the project land after field study to ensure free and un-obstructive movement of various modes of transport and pedestrians.

The concession period is 60 years.

RLDA noted that it is currently working on 62 stations in a phased manner while its subsidiary, IRSDC has taken up another 61 stations.

The railway stations across India will be redeveloped on a PPP Model as a part of the Smart City Projects launched by the Government of India.

In the first phase, RLDA has prioritised prominent stations like New Delhi, Tirupati, Dehradun, Nellore, Puducherry, Ernakulam etc for redevelopment.