Indian Railway Stations Development Corporation (IRSDC) in coordination with Central Railway (CR) is working out a plan to redevelop CSMT station into a world-class station while restoring its heritage charm. The redevelopment scheme will focus on creating waiting lounges on the lines of airports, segregating suburban commuter traffic from mainline while transforming the area around the station to go in sync with the main station building, which is a Grade-1 heritage structure. The concept plan prepared by ISRDC has revived an old plan, which was estimated to cost Rs 2,700 crore for the entire redevelopment but had to be shelved in 2014. A French firm, Arep Ville, was then appointed as a consultant. The plan was shelved as the land identified for commercial exploitation has to be used for railway projects for capacity augmentation. In the new plan prepared by ISRDC, using the old consultancy report as the blueprint, an additional deck will be created over the mainline tracks for long-distance passengers. The deck will be on the lines of waiting lounges at airports. To enhance the heritage look of the station building, encroachments around it will be removed. The annexe building constructed in 1929 and the building above the mainline platform will be restored to give them a heritage look.
