The Northeast Frontier Railway will spend around Rs 20 crore for infrastructure development of Jalpaiguri station, senior railway officials said here on Sunday.

Located in the heart of Jalpaiguri town, the station is along the New Jalpaiguri-Haldibari route. A number of important trains, including Darjeeling Mail, (NJP-Dhaka Cantonment) Mitali Express, and Haldibari-Kolkata Superfast Express, run through the station every day.

“The infrastructure of Jalpaiguri station will be developed to provide better amenities to passengers on the route. The platforms will be extended and elevators installed at the station. We will spend around Rs 20 crore for this purpose and want to finish the work in a year,” S.K. Chowdhury, the divisional railway manager of Katihar division of the NFR, who inspected the station with some other officials on Sunday, said.

Over the past few months, residents in and around the town pointed out that the platform needs to be extended.

“Particularly in the case of Darjeeling Mail, the platform falls short. Passengers in three unreserved coaches and a reserved coach have to virtually jump down beside the tracks or board the train from the tracks,” said Subrata Karmakar, a resident.

Also, when the train halts at the station, railway authorities have to keep a level crossing at the southern end of the platform closed.

Chowdhury, after his inspection, said they intend to extend the platform southwards.

“We will close down the level crossing and build an overbridge. This will reduce passenger inconvenience, and that of residents as a whole,” he said.

The railways, sources said, will also build separate entries and exits at the station.

“We may need some land for such extensions. There are patches of railway land next to the station with some encroachments. We will have to clear the encroachments in association with the administration,” said a railway official