Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways, Shipping and Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Nitin Gadkari laid the foundation stone for development and maintenance of Inter-Modal Station - IMS at Ajni Railway Station in Nagpur today. IMS is a passenger terminal infrastructure which integrates various transportation modes like rail, road, mass rapid transit system (MRTS), bus rapid transit (BRT) and other para-modal transportation modes. Inter-modal stations allow passengers to change transportation modes during transit without leaving the station premises.Speaking on the occasion Shri Gadkari stressed upon adopting new ideas for improving transport facilities in towns and cities. He also called upon planners to aim for reducing city congestion by aggregation of transportation nodes in the city, by effective city evacuation, and by eliminating traffic due to transit passengers. The Minister emphasised on providing better passenger convenience for various transport modes and to bring synergies into the available infrastructure.
The IMS facility will include world-class amenities like Integrated ticket counters, transit platforms, travelators, lifts, spacious waiting rooms, retail shops, food courts etc. leading to improved convenience and comfort for transit passengers. the station has been designed for horizon year 2050 with the capacity to handle 3.24 lakh passengers every day. The capital cost of this project is Rs. 1588.81 crore out of which cost of development of IMS Nagpur including relocation of Railway Quarters, Structures is Rs. 1288.81 crore, while the cost of improvement of road connectivity to IMS Nagpur is Rs. 300 crore.The project includes construction of an environment-friendly building – its roof will be designed so as to collect rain water for harvesting, and for installation of solar panels to reduce the overall energy consumption. The complex will provide world-class amenities like integrated ticket counters, Kiosks, transit platforms, travellators, escalators, lifts, spacious waiting rooms, retail shops, food courts etc. leading to improved convenience and comfort for transit passengers. It will have car parking for 1000 cars, 148 Bus Bays, Internal roads for circulation.