Bhubneswar, April 28: A new railway station will become operational in the city between Mancheswar and Barang by the end of May to deal with increasing passenger pressure and train movement.

The new facility will function as a supplementary terminal to the existing Bhubaneswar railway station much in the way Lokmanya Tilak Terminus at Kurla helps lessen pressure on Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus in Mumbai.

General manger of East Coast Railway Umesh Singh yesterday chaired a review meeting on various ongoing projects of the Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL).

The RVNL were advised to speed up the project work and make the new Bhubaneswar station ready for commissioning by end of next month.

Railway officials said that the construction of three platforms and two foot overbridges at the new station was on the verge of completion.

"In the initial phase, there will be three platforms and two foot overbridges. Later, another four platforms would be added," said an official of the railway. The new station is located around 13.5km away from the existing station, while its distance from Nandankanan would be only 1.5km.

The new Bhubaneswar railway station is expected to ease the burden of the existing station as around 120 trains either originate from or pass through the present railway station every day.

In the first phase, southbound trains will originate from the new station and halt at the existing one. Northbound trains will originate from the existing station and halt at the new satellite terminal. The RVNL is constructing the new station for Rs 50 crore.

The existing station with its six platforms, caters to more than seven lakh passengers every month.

It also has facilities, such as escalators, lifts and waiting halls.

"Though the existing station is sufficient to handle the existing passenger volume, it lacks parking facilities. Besides, the peripheral areas are also congested because of encroachments," said a regular passenger.

A railway official said that the new station would be well illuminated, have good approach roads and adequate parking facilities. The state government will also develop a bus terminal to facilitate passenger movement.

"In the next phase, new washing lines will be built to clean trains at the new station. We are also planning to come up with a similar station at Naraj to ease the pressure on the present Cuttack station," said a railway official.

There are also plans to add another platform to the Bhubaneswar.

The new platform will become platform No. 1, while the existing platforms will be renamed from 2 to 7. The new platform will be constructed at a cost Rs 13.5 crore.

"The new Bhubaneswar station will be upgraded in a phase-wise manner to ease passenger load on the existing station," said a senior railway official.