Mumbai: Kalwa to get elevated railway station

The project - an elevated station and line at Kalwa - is likely to de-congest Thane station

Kalwa station will soon be two-storey like Sandhurst Road. In a big boost to Mumbai railway connectivity, the railways on Monday finally floated tenders to begin construction work on the Airoli-Kalwa link, which will connect Navi Mumbai to Kalyan-Kasara directly for local trains.

An official of the Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation (MRVC) said a rail flyover has been planned with a ballastless track and construction of an elevated Kalwa station including platforms, booking office, connected foot underbridges, staircases and related works. The tentative cost of the entire project and railway line is estimated at Rs 476 crore.

The new line, which is expected to be completed by 2021, will run on an elevated section after Digha station and pass through parts of Kalwa. The project is likely to de-congest Thane station and provide direct connectivity between suburbs in Thane, Kalyan and Navi Mumbai.

The two new station platforms of Kalwa and Mumbra have also begun to take shape after the decade-long work on the 5th and 6th lines is pacing ahead to meet the 2019 deadline.

Explaining the works, a senior official of the MRVC that is building the lines said that the platform structures and basic utility works are being built, and as per the layouts the two new platforms at Mumbra will be used by the slow local lines and the existing platforms will be used by fast trains. At Kalwa, the new platforms will be used by the fast local trains and the existing ones will continue to be used by slow trains.

The official said that the new platforms are coming up with the footover bridges, ramps and all modern passenger amenities. A breakthrough was made in October when a 2-km stretch was built between Mumbra and Kalwa and connected to the old lines, making space for the station.

Harbour line affected
Suburban services on the harbour line were affected when a local train suffered unit failure and was stranded near Mankhurd, disturbing the morning peak hour. It led to bunching of trains from Mankhurd to Nerul.

The 749 Vashi-CSMT train was stranded for over 30 minutes between Vashi and Mankhurd, just after it started. Commuters were seen walking on tracks and many resorted to taking cabs from Mankhurd station.

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