A five-star hotel atop a railway station! Yes, you read it right. Gujarat’s redeveloped Gandhinagar railway station, set to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi today (July 16), will have a high-end hotel and an airport-like facilities.

“I have always wanted our Railway Stations to be of top quality, where apart from travels there is a boost to commerce, hospitality and more. One such effort has been made in Gandhinagar. The upgraded station will be inaugurated tomorrow,” the Prime Minister tweeted on Thursday.

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The Railway Ministry also shared on Twitter both the ‘before’ and ‘after’ photos of the station that has been redeveloped at the cost of Rs 71.59 crore. They also shared a video.

A star hotel in a railway station is a first for the Indian Railways and a  joint venture SPV called Gandhinagar Railway and Urban Development (GARUD) company was specially formed with the Government of Gujarat and Indian Railway Station Development Corporation (IRSDC) for the project.

The luxury hotel, spread over 7,400 square meters will have 318 rooms and will be operated by a private entity. The hotel has been built at a cost of Rs 790 crore.

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The Gandhinagar railway station will have facilities at par with modern airports. The station has a segregated Entry and Exit surrounded by landscaped areas. Apart from an interfaith prayer hall, it boasts of an art gallery with LED wall display lounge, baby feeding room, centralized AC waiting hall and spacious ticketing facilities. 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 etc, a release said.

Vadnagar station

The PM will also inaugurate a revamped Vadnagar railway station, the place where he used to sell tea during his childhood. Vadnagar in Gujarat’s Mehsana district is Modi’s hometown.

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Since Vadnagar town falls in the “heritage circuit”, the railway station building there has been given a heritage look at a cost of Rs 8.5 crore, said Western Railway’s Divisional Railway Manager Dipak Kumar Jha on Thursday.

“The Vadnagar railway station is one of the major stations which falls on that route. Since it is also part of the heritage circuit, the Ministry of Tourism spent Rs 8.5 crore to give a heritage look to the existing station building and its entry gate,” Jha told reporters at a press meet here.

The Prime Minister’s father Damodardas Modi had a tea stall inside the Vadnagar railway station. During his younger days, the PM used to help his father sell tea at the station.