Gandhinagar (Gujarat):  Prime Minister Narendra Modi said his government is focused on development of railways. And he also indicated that railway stations may be remodelled into high-rise commercial buildings as well.

“My government has given priority to railways… it should expand, it should be developed, get modernised and it should bring a qualitative change in the lives of common people. “We have tried to do this in the last two years and five months. We have increased the budget of railways to double of what it was,” he said.

The Prime Minister laid the foundation stone for redevelopment of Gandhinagar railway station, which will get a face-lift at a cost of Rs 250 crore and will have a 300-room five star hotel built atop (Jan 9).

Modi listed various works done by his government to develop railways and said the pace of doubling of railway tracks has increased, besides speeding up of gauge conversion and electrification of lines.

He said free WiFi has been provided at railway stations.

The Central government is working to increase speed of trains and also striving to bring in global technology to make railways safer, as “safety is of greatest concern”, Modi said.

“In developed countries, 70 per cent goods transportation is carried out by railways while rest by roads. However in India, 15 to 20 per cent is through railways while 70 to 80 per cent is by roads. Goods tend to get costlier when transported by roads. We are stressing on development of freight corridors,” he said.

The Prime Minister also said that railway stations located in cities can be developed by constructing high-rise buildings atop them.

  Indian railways, Prime Minister Modi