Civil work done, Thane-Diva rail project nears completion

The Thane-Diva line on Friday

All civil work on the most delayed Thane-Diva rail project is complete and the line is expected to be finally commissioned before March 2022, said railway officials on Friday in what could bring cheer to thousands of residents of the area. The next big task is to link rail tracks on both sides for which the Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation will need to coordinate with the Central Railway, they said.

The completion of this 9-km corridor, marred first due to encroachments and later technical glitches, will see a sea-change in CR's rail traffic and lead not only an increase in suburban trains but also segregate the outstation trains between Kalyan and Kurla. The fast local trains will then get a dedicated path. Currently, there are six lines between Kalyan and Diva and Kurla Lokmanya Tilak Terminus and Thane. But there are only four lines between Thane and Diva, which leads to congestion due to crossing of outstation trains.

"The pandemic was a difficult time with supply chains delayed and most of the labour going back home. Most of the civil work on the Thane-Diva line is now complete and the process of linking rail tracks will soon begin," an official said. The MRVC is spearheading the project. "Once the track linking is done, then the trials of the commissioner of railway safety will happen and once the certifications are in, the line would be commissioned. We are looking for an internal deadline of December 2021," he said.

The line has missed several deadlines and seen cost escalation

However, a section of officials said that it may not be practically possible to stick to the December deadline as track linking and interlocking is a complicated process and that one should look at March 2022 in the least. In 2019, the Central Railway's new local timetable had no space for more trains in the future. CR said there were no paths available for trains as the section was houseful.

The project will help the Central Railway add nearly 100 more local services as Diva-Thane is the busiest corridor at present. "The commissioning of the corridor will bring in a fundamental change to the Mumbai division and help in increase of services and better punctuality," Central Railway's chief public relations officer Shivaji Sutar said.

Commuters upbeat

Kalwa resident and commuter activist Siddhesh Desai said, "Once complete, Kalwa station will be a better place to get in. Because of just two lines, the frequency of trains had become a major issue and crowds swelled in just a few minutes as the population of Kalwa has been increasing after spilling over from Thane." He added, "This along with the Kalwa-Airoli link, whenever it completes, will make Kalwa a much better junction station and be of immense help to commuters. We have been waiting for this day."

A stretch of the much-delayed Thane-Diva sixth line being developed. File/Sameer Markande

Passenger activist Madhu Kotian said the project will add Kalwa and Mumbra on the fast corridor. He said, "Due to the huge population, the crowd at these two stations is huge, but is being catered to by just slow trains. This [project] will increase services and trains, leading to thinning of crowds. This should have happened much, much earlier."

Commuter activist Lata Argade who had taken a signature campaign at Dombivli station a few years ago to push for the completion of Thane-Diva rail, said, "Passengers had responded overwhelmingly in the campaign on the station premise of Dombivli as most agreed with the demands and wanted the railways to fulfil them as time progressed. One of the seven-point demands included completion of the Thane-Diva railway line, which will prove to be beneficial to all commuters beyond Thane in a very big way."

A local train at Dadar station. The project will help Central Railway segregate local and outstation lines and improve services

Subhash Gupta of Mumbai Railway Pravasi Sangh said if it takes so much time to finish a 9-km stretch one can imagine the plight of other similar corridors in the city.

"I will believe only when they complete the line and get it commissioned. But actually, if they complete it. It will change the lives of people staying between Thane and Diva. It will lead to more trains and improved frequency will indeed immensely help commuters in this region. It is a struggle for everyone beyond Thane to catch a train right now and this will bring in a mega shift in transport patterns around here," local commuter and activist Nankumar Deshmukh said.

The deadline for the project, sanctioned in 2008, was December 2015, which was revised to December 2017, then to March 2019, June 2020 and now March 2022. The cost has escalated from about Rs 130 crore to Rs 440 crore.

Commuters at Thane station. As the number of services will increase due to the project, there will be less crowding at the station

Ghatkopar station upgrade after rain

The work on the Ghatkopar railway station upgrade that mid-day had been following up will now be taken up after October, said a top official. Ghatkopar has been an important junction since it sees a huge footfall due to the integration of the local and Metro lines. The station is set to get a massive upgrade with three new 12-metre foot bridges, all linked by an elevated deck, an additional skywalk along a road and seamless connectivity for passenger movement.

2008
Year project was sanctioned