New Diva-Thane rail lines to miss March deadline, too

Levelling work for the fifth and sixth railway lines between Diva and Thane is still underway at some places

Eleven years since work began on the fifth and sixth railway lines between Diva and Thane, the project still awaits completion. Certain to miss its March 2019 deadline, the project across nine kilometres, has been facing several hurdles since its inception. mid-day took a walk along the stretch this week to get the ground report.

Rapid work at stations
Near Diva, on the line towards CSMT, space still needs to be created near the existing level-crossing for the new lines, and rails will have to be aligned to the old tracks. Slightly ahead, work of levelling land next to the mangroves is being done in patches while work on Mumbra station is being done at a rapid pace.

After Mumbra, the new line bypasses the existing line to cross over the creek and the highway with a rail-overbridge. The line from this point to the new Kalwa station is complete with work on the station under process. Between Kalwa and Thane, the major bridges have been completed, but work of building walls and levelling is still under process at certain places.

'Too many hurdles'
Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation (MRVC) officials said that there have been delays because of too many external hurdles and complications. "The alignment meant rehabilitating people, with the involvement of numerous state government bodies," a senior official said. An MRVC spokesperson said that the project should be completed in 2019 itself.

The 2008 project
The project, which was sanctioned in 2008 as part of MUTP 2B, is crucial for the Central Railway as it will segregate the outstation and local train rail corridors and thus decongest the line. It has already missed deadlines in December 2015 and December 2017.

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