Indian Railways is planning to build satellite terminals near some of the busiest junctions, aiming at reducing pressure on such stations and the city traffic around it.

“We are planning to develop some satellite terminals. Most of the urban areas are saturated now. It is impossible to reach to the station in busy areas. We can have satellite terminals outside busy railway stations,” Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu here said at a conference on U.S.-India cooperation on smart transportation.

There are about 8,000 stations across the country out of which some of the busiest stations like New Delhi, Delhi Junction, Howrah, Chhatrapati Shivaji, Lucknow, Chennai are quite saturated now.

According to the plan, satellite terminals will be developed in the nearby cities to divert the rail as well as road traffic to ease pressure on these busy stations.

Prabhu said the satellite stations could bring in much better development in the adjoining towns and also decongest the busy stations and cities automatically.

Seeking cooperation with the U.S. on safety, managerial ability and technology, Prabhu said “We will be very happy to collaborate and learn from the U.S. in the rail sector. U.S. is a great friend and partner of India. Probably we have best relationship with President Barak Obama and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. We can move to a new level in this sector.”

He further said, “We can not reach U.S. through rail but certainly we can have exchange ideas with one another on technolgy. we can work together.”

Emphasising on the importance safety, he said Railways is also planning to have an independent safety regulator with enhanced safety regulation.

“Safety is a key issue. We are also thinking of how to have an independent safety regulator. Safety is core area of concern for transportation including railways there also we are looking for close cooperation with the US.”

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