For thousands of passengers using Chandigarh railway station every day, the promise of a world-class railway terminal remains elusive. More than three years after redevelopment work began under the Union ministry of railways’ Amrit Bharat Station Scheme, the ambitious ₹462-crore project has missed four deadlines and now appears unlikely to meet its fifth.
While the latest official completion deadline is July 31, 2026, officials associated with the project admitted that the work is now expected to be completed only by October 2026.
The project has witnessed a turbulent journey since its inception. In 2021, the railway board dissolved the Indian Railway Stations Development Corporation (IRSDC), which was originally responsible for station redevelopment projects across the country. The responsibility was later transferred to the Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA), a statutory body under the ministry of railways.
The tender for redeveloping Chandigarh railway station was floated in September 2022 and awarded in November 2022, with construction commencing in January 2023. Under the original contract, the work was to be completed within 15 months, fixing April 10, 2024, as the first deadline.
However, the project repeatedly failed to meet revised timelines of December 31, 2024, October 31, 2025, March 18, 2026, and now July 31, 2026.
Sources attributed the prolonged delay to slow execution, the contractor’s lack of experience in executing a railway station redevelopment project of this scale, and disputes that arose during construction. The project was awarded as an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract, under which the contractor bears full responsibility for designing, procuring and executing the project for a fixed lump-sum cost.
According to sources, a team from the chief technical examiner’s organisation (CTEO), the technical wing of the central vigilance commission (CVC), inspected the project in February 2025 and conducted an audit of procurement and construction works. During the inspection, the team reportedly observed defects in the granite flooring, aluminium composite panels, concertina wire and barbed wire installed along boundary walls. Major deficiencies were also noted in wall alignments, floor levels and the finishing of granite edges.
Sources said several of these observations are yet to be fully addressed.
The contractor has also been penalised ₹46 crore for failing to meet contractual milestones. However, the penalty remains under dispute.
When contacted, the planning head of the contracting company declined to comment on the delay or the observations raised during the project, saying he was not authorised to speak on the matter.
Despite the setbacks, officials said the project is now around 90% complete. Structural work on both the Chandigarh and Panchkula sides, the air concourse and foot overbridges has largely been completed.
Once operational, the redeveloped Chandigarh railway station is expected to function as a world-class multimodal transit hub featuring a modern façade, an air concourse, improved parking facilities, roof plazas, elevators and escalators, food courts, dedicated pedestrian pathways, upgraded waiting areas, better lighting, enhanced accessibility and other airport-like passenger amenities under the Amrit Bharat Station Scheme.
Issues observed
When visited on Tuesday, the automatic ticket vending machine on the Panchkula side was found to be non-functional intermittently. No railings were installed to manage proper queues at the ticket counter. Both water coolers near the public toilets on the ground floor were found without water. Passengers and stray dogs were seen sitting and lying near a closed entry gate equipped with a metal detector, which remains shut due to ongoing construction.
