Kalwa-Mumbra commuters call off agitation on August 6

Commuters’ representative met railway officials last week

Station indicators on the new fast platform at Kalwa, a possible survey to study the feasibility of Kalwa car shed local halt and speeding up of work on Mumbra escalators and the Diva road bridge are among a few demands that the railways has agreed upon after commuter associations warned of a mega agitation on August 6.

The move has prompted the commuter bodies to call off their protest.

"We met senior railway officials who patiently listened to our concerns and promised to alleviate them. Divisional officials said as per operational rules, one cannot halt the car shed local train, but they will conduct a possible survey to study the entire issue again," said Siddhesh Desai, vice-president of the Mumbai Rail Pravasi Sangh, one of the oldest and biggest passenger associations that had taken the lead in the issue.

The new connector at Andheri station will smoothen east-west movement apart from decongesting the area

Officials have promised to expedite work on escalators at Mumbra station and expedite work on a road overbridge at Diva station to replace the level crossing gate. They have also agreed to put up indicators on the new fast train platform at Kalwa which could be used during mega block days on weekends.

With officials giving positive signals, Mumbai Rail Pravasi Sangh president Madhu Kotian said they have decided to call off their August 6 protest to give the railways time to study the issue comprehensively.

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Commuters from Kalwa-Mumbra and Diva had threatened to demonstrate stressing that there had been no benefits to them after the new 5th and 6th lines became operations. Last month, an online petition had also been floated by commuters to press for their demands.

New Andheri connector opens

A new bridge at the Churchgate-end of Andheri station linked to older bridges was opened on Monday. The skywalk is 6 metres wide and 98 metres long. Apart from helping in decongestion, it will also facilitate east-west movement by providing an additional walkway. With this bridge, built at the cost of R4.5 crore, a total of eight foot overbridges and skywalks have been commissioned in the Mumbai suburban section of the Western Railway since April, taking the total to 141. Five more are expected to be ready at Dadar, Khar, Naigaon, Vasai Road and Nalasopara stations by March 2023.