Railway Minister Piyush Goyal here on Friday expressed satisfaction at the pace of work of redeveloping Habibganj railway station.

The station is being reconstructed on the lines of Germany's Heidelberg railway station by the Indian Railway Stations Development Corporation, a special purpose vehicle of the railway ministry, along with a private firm, Bansal Pathways Habibganj Private Ltd.

After inspecting the works, while talking to media persons, Goyal said, “I am satisfied with the pace of works, especially the two subways that have come up, to turn Habibganj station into a model one for the country. The redeveloped station will come up soon.”

The railways plan to develop 400 stations into world class ones.

The private firm has started running certain aspects, like upkeep and maintenance, of the station, though train operations continue to be with the railways, the CPRO informed. The firm won the bid to redevelop and maintain the station, originally commissioned in 1979, in 2016.

The Bansal group has been given eight years to complete the commercial development of the station. Profit from the commercial facilities will form return on investment.

The firm is now looking after parking, catering, cleaning including track washing, maintenance, housekeeping among other operations.

The company is redeveloping Habibganj station since March 2016 with World class facility on the lines of Germany's Heidelberg railway station. The IRSDC is the nodal agency of the project. The project is being carried out in two phases, of which the part dealing with station redevelopment will cost Rs 100 crore.