Improve services beyond Virar: Palghar MP to Western Railway general manager

Palghar MP Rajendra Gavit (far right) meets with Western Railway officials on Monday

Local train services beyond Virar must be improved. With this appeal, the Palghar MLA and MP independently met the Western Railway General Manager Ashok Kumar Misra within a span of one month and made a host of suggestions.

Last week, Palghar MP Rajendra Gavit met Misra along with representatives of passenger associations seeking more amenities on the section between Virar and Dahanu and asked that it be treated just like the Mumbai suburban section. "Upgrades like having a train management system, controls from Mumbai, centralized announcements, more CCTVs and escalators and all public amenities on a par with Mumbai suburban railway should be provided to this region since this has already been declared a part of the suburban railway," Gavit said.

Another crucial issue that was discussed was planning more halts at Palghar. "Since Palghar has a district headquarters, the development ratio is very high. It is also a central site between Mumbai and major cities in Gujarat. There are more than 90-100 villages connected with Palghar station. The urbanization ratio is also at its peak since new residential, industrial constructions are taking place. The state government has also taken up the development of the district with more residential complexes on 1,000 acres at Palghar with the help of local developmental body CIDCO. Looking at the current and future development, Palghar needs better railway facilities," the leader said.

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"To start with, we could have an additional fourth platform at Palghar, more ticket windows and better amenities," he added. Misra assured the MP that he would look into the demands. A senior official said that the section would see a sea change once the third and fourth lines come up between Virar and Dahanu. Two weeks ago, Palghar MLA Shrinivas Vanga, as reported by mid-day in its November 25 edition, met Misra with similar complaints, stating that there was a need to improve services beyond Virar and that the new Vande Bharat Train 18 Express was delaying other trains.

WR officials said that there are limitations beyond Virar due to the existence of only two lines and the project to quadruple the 63-km stretch of lines between Virar and Dahanu is currently on at a rapid stage by the Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation. "As a part of the quadrupling, new platforms and alignments are being made at certain stations and bridges are being widened and strengthened which will allow for faster trains. Once the quadrupling is over, the capacity constraints will end, and one will be able to segregate mail express and suburban traffic, add more trains and increase frequency. The deadline for this project is March 2025," he said.

63
The length of lines between Virar and Dahanu in km