Mumbai: Diva-Thane railway bridge half ready

The work on the bridge completed around 8 pm on Sunday

The first stretch of the massive Diva-Thane rail bridge was successfully pushed in place on Sunday night, and with this the project is halfway done. Now, the next phase is scheduled for March 21.

The completion of this line will bring a sea-change in the rail traffic of Mumbai's Central Railway. It will lead to an increase in locals, and completely segregate the outstation mail/express trains between Kalyan and Kurla. The fast local trains will then get a dedicated path. New platforms have been built at Kalwa and Mumbra stations.

"The road crossing span of the flyover is 76.2 m with a weight of 350 metric tonnes. There are two such spans, one each for down and up lines," a Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation official said.

The project was sanctioned in 2008 and is crucial for CR, but has been hit by delays. The deadlines have been changed multiple times since 2015, causing the cost to escalate to Rs 440 crore from Rs 130 crore.

350
Weight of the bridge in tonnes