Road, Rail And Waterways: India’s First Intermodal Transit Hubs To Come Up At Nagpur And Varanasi

India’s first two intermodal transit hubs linking road, rail, water and rapid transit are set to come up at Nagpur, Maharashtra and Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, reports The Economic Times.

The intermodal hub which aims to be a one-stop location for railways, buses, mass transit (metro), water transit, taxis and autorickshaws to enable seamless flow of transit from one form to another. Nagpur and Varanasi have been selected out of 15 contenders as part of the pilot programme.

The hubs will be operated by a special purpose vehicle (SPV) between the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) through the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), Ministry of Railways (MoR) and the respective state governments. The members of the SPV would either provide paid-up capital or land as part of their equity contributions.

The NHAI will fund the construction of the terminal, railway infrastructure, bus infrastructure, parking and other facilities including retail space and common areas. The state government and railways would provide the land while a private concessionaire would operate the hub under the hybrid annuity model. Commercial rights would be tendered out once commercial operations commence.

The stations would be equipped to handle passenger volumes for 30 years and will also feature advanced fire-fighting and emergency services.

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