Mumbai: 5,000 fed-up railway commuters sign long draft of demands

People crowd at Dombivli railway station to sign the seven-point charter of demands as part of a campaign launched by commuters

Commuters at the Dombivli railway station collected more than 5,000 signatures in support of a seven-point charter of demands as part of a campaign they launched on Tuesday. One of their most important and valid demands is the completion of the 9-km Thane-Diva fifth and sixth railway lines, which have been in works for the past 11 years, with the deadline being revised for the fourth time now to mid-2019.

Speaking to mid-day, Lata Argade, commuter activist, said, "There has been an overwhelming response to the campaign, as most people agreed to the demands. One of the demands is completion of the Thane-Diva railway lines, which will prove to be beneficial for those travelling beyond Thane. The project has been delayed beyond expectations."

The other demands include adding more services from Dombivli, converting all trains into 15-car ones on the fast corridor, putting up signages for senior citizens, running more trains towards Karjat and Kasara, upgrading the bridge on the Kalyan-end of the station and deploying police officers at stations during rush hour.

"Most of the commuters agreed with the problems listed out in the document circulated during the campaign. One of the biggest problems beyond Thane has been capacity expansion, which includes more lines between Diva and Thane so that more trains can be catered to," Argade added.

Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation officials are of the opinion that a number of external factors and complications led to the project's delay. "The project's alignment involved rehabilitating people. Several government bodies were also a part of it. Only after the project-affected people vacated the land, engineering work could start," an official said.

Delayed again and again
The Diva-Thane project, which was sanctioned in 2008, is a part of the Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP 2B) and is crucial for the Central Railway, as it will be a key factor in segregating the outstation and local train rail corridor. This in turn will improve the speed and frequency of trains. The first deadline for completion of the project was December 2015, which was later revised to December 2017, then to March 2019 and now mid-2019. The cost has escalated from the original R130 crore to Rs 440 crore.

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