Indian Railways said on Friday it will set up a separate Railway Stations Development Corporation (RSDC) to improve passenger facilities.
"A need was being felt to have a nodal agency with the required professional competence for undertaking such projects in a holistic manner," Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi told reporters.
He said the railways planned to have shopping areas and restaurants in the station areas to boost revenue from its properties.
The minister said he has already written to the chief ministers of states and the mayors of cities to further develop the areas around railways stations to make access easy, both for the passengers and those who may visit the place for recreation.
To be created as a special purpose vehicle, the planned authority will have equity participation of Ircon International Ltd (IRCON), a public company under the ministry, and the Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA), a statutory authority under the railways.
The authority will redevelop railway stations and have a mechanism for constantly upgrading and maintaining the passenger amenities and facilities, said Trivedi.
The minister said the old plan of creating world class stations may be dovetailed with the new authority keeping in mind the short-term and long-term goals.
Officials said IRCON has vast national and international experience of infrastructure projects as well as development of commercial, institutional, industrial and residential properties, while the RLDA has the statutory mandate for commercial development of identified railway land and airspace for generation of revenues.