Mumbai: Central Railway to enforce 60-hour rail block to widen platforms

Platform no. 5/6, an island platform at Thane station, which will be widened

Central Railway (CR) is all set to begin the widening of platforms at the crowded Thane station for better crowd management with 60-hour-long rail blocks to facilitate the work. The dates for these blocks will be announced in a while, said railway authorities. Rail authorities have also undertaken work to decongest another platform at Dadar, after the widening of platform no. 1 and 2 on the CR section. The plan is to provide more space for passengers waiting to board trains on the crowded platforms while taking into account the space limitations. Hence stalls and other utilities are being removed.

"At present, platform no. 5/6 which caters to up and down fast suburban local trains and mail/express trains get extremely crowded due to long-distance train passengers waiting with their luggage on the platform. Thane being a junction also gets passengers from the trans-harbour Thane-Vashi/Panvel line, leading to more and more people pouring onto this island platform," a CR spokesperson said.

According to the spokesperson, the plan is to shift the existing tracks of platform no. 5 to the west side and widen the existing platform wherever space is available. "The maximum width widening will be between 2.5 m to 3 m and the platform will taper where there is less space. This will create more circulating space on the platform. In addition to this, an east-west foot over bridge is being commissioned on both the north and south ends of the platform for seamless movement of passengers," he said, adding that the work would begin soon and a 60-hour-long block would be enforced to facilitate the work.

"At Dadar, after work on the up slow line platform is complete, the next in line is to convert the fast train platforms 10/11 into double discharge ones. This would ensure that the crowd on platform no. 10 - where Kalyan-bound fast local trains and express trains leaving Mumbai currently halt - gets equally distributed decongesting it. Once the platform on the other side opens for the public, commuters can board from either side of the platform," a CR official said. At present, the platform is fenced from one side.

The official further stated that the work to open up platform no. 10 involves realigning all existing utilities like the foot bridge ramp, canteens, a few railway structures and staircases. "Once that is done, the overhead wires and tracks will be realigned. The cost of the project so far is Rs 1.88 crore."

Dr Swapnil Nila, chief public relations officer, CR, said that CR has decided to decongest the platform by relocating shops and other utilities which are currently located specifically in the middle of the island platform. "This will help increase the circulating area available for the passengers and to accommodate them in a better way. These widening projects will make for a better travel experience for Mumbaikars," Dr Nila said.

Rs 1.88cr
Amount spent on widening platform no. 10 at Dadar