Another line to Gorakhpur crosses the Saryu River to the north and then heads east from Mankapur Junction.
[3][4][5][6] The existing station building, covering an area of approximately 940 m2 (10,100 sq ft), has been renovated many times before reaching its present condition, since its establishment in 1874.
Since the laying of the foundation stone by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 5 August 2020, the station has been undergoing expansion by adding double railway lines, alongside strengthening of electrification of the tracks to handle more high-capacity long-distance trains, construction of the new station building just beside to the existing building among many other facilities.
The new design would retain the temple-like look of the existing station and would add new amenities besides increasing capacity to handle the greater passenger numbers expected due to the construction of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya.
It has various designed structures and architecture depicting like what it is present in Hindu temples, such as Lord Ram's 'mukut' (crown), while the 'chakra' symbolizes the sun.
Out of the three floors of the new building, the ground floor has an entrance passage, a central area for assembling of passengers before going to the platform areas, multiple passenger transit gates, ticket and baggage counters, a tourist information centre, lounges, washrooms, both AC and non-AC separate waiting rooms for gents and ladies, and one AC first-class waiting room.
To serve foreign tourists and high-ranking officials and professionals, there are VIP lounges and restrooms in both the ground and first floors of the new building.
Other passenger and disabled-friendly facilities and amenities include two escalators and lifts, ramps, wheelchair access and emergency services.
It is a sustainable and eco-friendly building, as it uses enitrely clean and renewable energy resources to generate electricity and other measures to protect the environment, such as solar panels on its roof for electricity, LED lights, abundant natural lighting provision through the roof, CCTV cameras, proper waste disposal measures, water management techniques like rainwater harvesting and a sewage treatment plant, and greenery in its premises for passenger facilitation.
The second phase encompasses the construction of a concourse above the tracks, which will be India's biggest concourse by area, covering 7,200 m2 (78,000 sq ft), whose design will be inspired by the petals of Lotus, the national flower of India, along with the addition of two new platforms, thereby increasing the total number of platforms to five, and a new station building in the southern side, which will be bigger than the new station building, and will also have a larger parking space.
[14][15] The station has been made accessible from the city as well as from the NH-27 as Ayodhya Bypass Road, as part of its ongoing modernisation project.