India’s first redeveloped Railway station with 5-star hotel to be inaugurated by PM Modi on July 16

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate several key projects of the Railways in Gujarat on Friday via video conferencing. He will also inaugurate the Aquatics and Robotics Gallery and Nature Park in Gujarat Science City during the event.

The Railway projects include the newly redeveloped Gandhinagar Capital Railway station, gauge converted-cum-electrified Mahesana – Varetha line and the newly electrified Surendranagar – Pipavav section.

An official release said Mahesana – Varetha Gauge conversion of 55 km has been completed at a cost of Rs 293 crore along with the electrification work at a cost of Rs 74 crore.

It has a total of ten stations with four newly developed station buildings – Visnagar, Vadnagar, Kheralu and Varetha.

A major station on this section is Vadnagar, which has been developed under Vadnagar – Modhera – Patan Heritage Circuit.

Vadnagar is the hometown of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and he used to sell tea at the railway station in his childhood.

The release said that Vadnagar station building has been designed aesthetically using stone carvings, and the circulating area has been provided with landscaping.

“Vadnagar will now get connected through a broad gauge line and passenger and goods trains can now be run seamlessly on this section,” it said.

The Prime Minister will also flag off two new trains. These are Gandhinagar Capital – Varanasi Superfast Express and MEMU service trains between Gandhinagar Capital and Varetha.

The release said that the upgradation of Gandhinagar Capital Railway station has been done at a cost of Rs 71 crore.

It said the station has been provided with world class amenities, at par with modern airports. Special care has been taken to make it a Divyang friendly station by providing it with a special ticket booking counter, ramps, lifts, dedicated parking space. The complete building is designed and provided with green building rating features.

“The state-of-the-art external facade will have daily theme based lighting with 32 themes,” the release said, adding that the station will also house a five star hotel.

The release said that Surendranagar – Pipavav Section project has been completed at a cost of Rs 289 crore.

The project will provide seamless freight movement from Palanpur, Ahmedabad and other parts of the country up to Pipavav Port without any change of traction. It will also decongest Ahmedabad, Viramgam and Surendranagar Yards due to avoidance of detentions for loco change over.

The release said that the state-of-the-art public Aquatics Gallery consists of different tanks dedicated to aquatic species belonging to different regions of the world along with the main tank consisting of major sharks from across the world.

There is also a 28-meter unique walkway tunnel, providing a unique experience.

The release said that the Robotics Gallery is an interactive gallery showcasing the frontiers of robotic technologies, which would provide a platform for visitors to explore the ever-advancing field of robotics.

At the entrance, there is a gigantic replica of the Transformer robot. A unique attraction in the gallery is a reception humanoid robot that communicates with visitors alongside expressing emotions such as joy, surprise and excitement.

Robots from different fields are placed on different floors of the gallery that demonstrate applications in domains such as medicine, agriculture, space, defence, and use in everyday life.

The Nature Park includes several picturesque features like a Mist Garden, Chess Garden, Selfie Points, Sculpture Park and an outdoor maze. It also includes interesting labyrinths designed for children. The park also contains various sculptures of extinct animals such as mammoth, terror bird, sabre-tooth lion and has a lot of scientific information.