Bhubaneswar, March 20: The East Coast Railway (ECoR) will construct two new platforms at the main railway station here to ease rail traffic and also to help give service to more passengers here. Once the two new platforms come up, the railway station will have a total of eight platforms.

Railway sources said that they have decided to create new platforms keeping in mind the rising footfall in Bhubaneswar railway station. The station has been witnessing a 20 per cent to 30 per cent rise in footfall every year, said a senior official of East Coast Railway.

However, it has not yet been decided by when the new platforms will come up, as the railway needs the public works department to raze some structures on the existing platform No. 1 before it takes up the construction.

The two new platforms will come up at the place of the existing platform No. 1 as the railway does not have any space left for further extension beyond the present platform No. 6 on the Old Town side.

The existing platform No. 1, which has come up on a huge area, also consists of a waiting hall, the station manager's office, rest rooms, parcel rooms, ticket counters and several other railway offices. The railway had asked the public works department to demolish all these structures so that it could build two new platforms in the same place.

However, though the public works department was supposed to start the raze drive in March. The work has not started yet. Senior works department officials could not explain the reason behind the delay in the starting the demolition either.

After demolishing the platform No. 1, the public works department is supposed to construct a new three-storey complex outside the station premises where all the railway offices, rest rooms and ticket counters would be housed. The new complex will come up at Rs 52 crore and it is expected to have state-of-the-art passenger convenience facilities.

Last year, the railway authorities had added two new platforms to Bhubaneswar railway station. "The number of platforms was increased from four to six last year. Now, it will be further enhanced to eight," said chief public relations officer of East Coast Railway J.P. Mishra.

Mishra said that the railway had a huge makeover plan for the Bhubaneswar railway station and the extension of the platforms was only a part of it.

At present, some 172 trains halt or pass through the Bhubaneswar railway station every day, while 64 trains also originate and terminate it. Around 25,000 passengers throng the station every day.

"The two new platforms will help ease an ever-increasing rail traffic in the station," said another railway official.

The railway authorities had started the process of constructing the new platforms and the new rail office complex along with the works department and the Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA). The Master Canteen area, which is the gateway to the railway station, will also be renovated as part of the plan.