The £14.5m plan would create a modern station building, multi-storey car park and a transport interchange for buses and taxis.
Regeneration company Derby Cityscape is leading the drive to revamp the Midland Road station.
It has now drawn up a master plan, covering how the building and the immediate area should be redeveloped to make it a suitable "gateway" for the rest of the city.
Derby Cityscape's chief executive, John Cadwallader, said: "We have only one opportunity to create an impression and that is very important for Derby and we need to get that right and for the station to provide an appropriate gateway."
Cityscape says the taxi rank should be moved to the right of the station to make it quicker for drivers to get to and from the city centre, as they can then avoid Carrington Street. A bus island would be created with buses going in and out every four minutes. That interchange would cost about £1.5m.
Cityscape also wants to see designs for a new station building created, which it hopes will be "substantially" different from the existing 1980s building.
It foresees the building costing in the region of £6m, with a further £7m going on the multi-storey car park.
It has put together artists' impressions of how the building could look, but wants detailed designs to be created.
Cityscape is leading the master plan on behalf of Derby Railway Partnership.
And the partnership's chairman, Eurostar boss Richard Brown, said it was vital to get the plans right.
"I think there is a widespread view across the city that in view of other successes and the growth of investment in the city, that the station should be a more impressive and attractive gateway," he said. "There are several key parts, which include the concourse – the area people come and go through – but also the interchange, because it is not all that easy at the moment to get off the train and find the right bus or get a taxi and we want that and the interaction between the station and the city to be improved."
The master plan goes on show at a public exhibition at the Midland Hotel, in Midland Road, tomorrow from noon to 8pm.
Consultants have been appointed to carry out the next phase of the detailed designs, taking on board the views of residents and businesses.
By April this year, it is hoped the designs for the interchange will be completed, with a design for the station building itself drawn up by July.
Building work on the interchange would then start in November this year, with the other construction work following on during 2010-2.
But Mr Brown said people should be patient about time scales. "The first step really is to get agreement that this is the right master plan and we need to take it forward step by step," he said. "In the current economic climate we need to be realistic, as raising the finance to take it forward is going to be a bit of a challenge but that doesn't mean it is not important to get these plans right."
The master plan is in addition to an £18m investment to improve the station's platforms which has already begun and is due to be completed in June.
A spokeswoman for Network Rail said: "These proposed improvements are important in improving Derby city centre transport links for the future.
"We are always working on the station to maintain and improve it but this is a major overhaul and is important not just for passengers but for the city."
And Mr Cadwallader said the aim was that the regeneration should not stop at the railway station itself. "The plan looks at what else can be developed around the station, like new office accommodation," he said.
He added that the plan could be funded from sources including government, East Midlands Development Agency and Network Rail.
Courtesy of Derby Evening Telegraph 14/1/2009