Mumbai: Commuters upset over steep climb up new foot over-bridge at Dombivli station

The new FoB came up recently after authorities pulled down an old creaky bridge at Dombivli station. Pic/Amchi Dombivli Local Community Twitter Handle

Meant to reduce chaos at Dombivli station, a new foot overbridge at its Kalyan-end is making commuters sweat, quite literally. Users say it is too steep to climb and could be dangerous, particularly for senior citizens. Passenger body Bharatiya Rail Yatri first highlighted the difficulties faced by train users, calling it an "engineering disaster". Citizens have been complaining of cramps, too.

The new foot overbridge is 6-metre wide with three spans. Pic/Amchi Dombivli Local Community Twitter Handle

Railway officials said there was no flaw but the location and space constraints made it look so and that they would fix it soon. Commuters said the staircase is almost like a ladder. "I request everyone to be careful on these steps. Cannot see an old man or woman tumbling down. Dombivlikars should take up the issue immediately with the authorities concerned," Pankaj S Joshi said.

Dombivli has one of the highest passenger densities among stations beyond Thane. Representation pic

Another commuter Pankaj Jaiswal said, "Old people are not able to climb and get down properly. They took two years to construct the bridge and they constructed it with a flaw." Rail user Pranay Sawant said the gradient is too steep and one may fall on it. "I saw it yesterday for the first time since the lockdown and one needs to be careful while negotiating the stretch."

Central Railway chief public relations officer Shivaji Sutar said they are working on providing a solution to ease the inconvenience. "The bridge has a direct approach to the main road from the staircase because of which the steps rise a bit more for adjustment. It is also due to space constraints at the site. An extra railing in the centre will be provided to help use it with further ease," said a senior engineer from Mumbai division.

mid-day had front-paged a report last year on the dilapidated remains of an old bridge that posed great risks to commuters and trains at Dombivli station. The report prompted railway authorities to bring it down immediately. "The new foot overbridge is 6-metre wide with three spans. It also links the skywalk on the east side," said an official.

Dombivli has one of the highest passenger densities among stations beyond Thane. As per a study done by the Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation, the peak hour section load, between 8.30 am and 9.30 am towards CSMT and 6.30pm-7.30pm in the direction of Kalyan, was between 40,000 to 50,000 passengers.

6MTS
Width of the new FoB at Dombivli station

50k
Approx. passenger footfall at Dombivli station during peak hours before lockdown