This is not a developer’s futuristic image of the station. It is one of the models created by school students, showing a world class railway station.

In a competition organised by Bentley Systems, students of the National Capital Region created models to find solutions to the problems faced by travellers at the station.

And these models are not based on a school student’s ‘unrealistic’ imagination. According to the organisers, all designs are based on the available land and resources at the station.

Sagar Sohni, a student of the Father Angel School, Gautam Nagar, says they designed their models based on the measurements given to them.

Rishav Binayak Das of Amity School, Gurgaon, says: “No changes have been made in the available area. And the shopping malls and restaurants inside the station will actually generate income.”

The models are displayed at the American Centre in the city as part of the Future Cities India 2020 competition organised in association with the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India.

Fifteen schools have put up 16 models of the station in a bid to win the prize money of US $4000.

To conserve energy, the designs also make provisions for water harvesting systems and solar panels at the station.

One such design by Apeejay School, Sheikh Sarai, has crystals that can use the energy generated by human beings (when they walk, for instance) for small purposes like lighting a cigarette.

Scott Lofgren, global director of Bentley Systems, which conducts such competitions in the US also, says the New Delhi Railway Station was selected as a subject among the many ‘challenges’ in the city.