Ambala division to take over Chandigarh railway station from April 1

With the signing of a “novation agreement” between the Ambala Railway Division and Indian Railway Stations Development Corporation (IRSDC), the former is set to take over the day-to-day affairs of the Chandigarh Railway Station from April 1, officials said on Tuesday.

Earlier, the management and redevelopment of the station was being handled by the IRSDC since March 2019. However, in its order dated October 18 last year, the railway board decided to shut operations of the corporation and hand over the work to the respective zonal divisions. In 2011, the ministry of railways had approved setting up of a special purpose vehicle (SPV), ‘Railway Stations Development Corporation Limited’, with the equity participation of IRCON International Limited and Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA) to take up the redevelopment of railway stations. Accordingly, on March 3, 2012, the IRSDC was incorporated as a joint venture between IRCON and RLDA.

Senior divisional commercial manager (Sr DCM) Hari Mohan said that the novation agreement that was signed between three parties – IRSDC (transferor), railway division (transferee) and 21 existing contractors (third party), will come into effect from the upcoming next financial year.