Mumbai: Central Railway 'shifts' tracks to build elevated station at Kurla

The new tracks being laid at Kurla for the construction of the elevated station. Pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi

The Central Railway has solved the Kurla station puzzle, by shifting the century-old harbour lines on temporary rail tracks built on what was once marsh land, for the construction of the new elevated station as they sync the lines with the upcoming 5th-6th alignment.

"We have set up temporary tracks and the alignment of the harbour lines will be shifted on these two new lines to facilitate the construction of the new elevated station at Kurla like the one at Sandhurst Road. Work on the project is 35 per cent complete," Central Railway Chief Public Relations Officer Shivaji Sutar said.

"We are now in an exciting phase of the project. The elevated railway rises some time after Chunabhatti station as the train moves towards Kurla station and enters the new elevated station. It will land just before the Santacruz-Chembur Link Road crossover over the harbour line near Tilak Nagar station. To facilitate construction, a new set of two tracks has been built over marshy land between Kurla and Tilak Nagar stations, and the existing trains will be diverted there as work goes on," an official said explaining in detail.

Existing lines for 5th and 6th line
mid-day was the first to report about the Rs 125 crore elevated harbour line station in October 2017. When ready, the terminus will aid CR to revive Kurla-originating trains to Navi Mumbai. The existing harbour lines platform at Kurla station will be used for the 5th and 6th line coming up between Kurla and Parel. mid-day has also got the designs of the bridge published in its September 25, 2019 edition, stating that the plans had been locked along the lines of the Parel mid-terminus with a three-platform plan.

The total project cost of the elevated Kurla station project and alignments was about R89.26 crore and the 5th and 6th lines was about Rs 891 crore, of which about Rs 189.12 crore had been spent. The project will involve the construction of a 1,120-metre, 59-span bridge linked to a central skywalk which will be connected to all other foot overbridges.

The project will also help in completely segregating freight and locals. Every time a freight train passes, harbour locals are today detained, as they share the tracks. This results in frequent delays and crowding on platforms. Once the line rises, this too will stop and both trains could pass without delay.

Bullet train land stuck again
The Shiv Sena-led Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) on Wednesday held back for the third time its nod to the required land for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project. The proposal is about 0.38.49 hectares of TMC land which the National High Speed Rail Corporation needs. The land requires to be transferred with a compensation of Rs 6.92 crore already agreed upon. A part of the bullet train alignment passes through Thane district and this land is part of a transfer deal approved by the collector's office.

Rs 125 crore
Cost of the elevated harbour line station