Mumbai: Ghatkopar railway station upgrade to begin next month

People queued up for tickets at Ghatkopar station when train services were opened for all, on February 1. Pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi

MumabiWork on the much-awaited upgradation of Ghatkopar railway station will finally begin in a month's time, and be completed with a set deadline to solve the issue of congestion and crowding at the station. Ghatkopar is an important junction station since it sees a large number of footfalls due to integration with Mumbai Metro Line 1.

Manoj Kotak

Member of Parliament from Mumbai north east Manoj Kotak on Tuesday called on senior railway officials to take an update of the status of Ghatkopar station, road over bridges at Vidyavihar, Vikhroli and Nahur and several other works.

"I met Mumbai divisional railway manager Shalabh Goel at the Central Railway head office and was assured that work on the elevated deck and related upgrade of Ghatkopar station will begin by April 30. I also took an update on works of other projects, including road over bridges," Kotak told mid-day.

The deck and upgrade of Ghatkopar station is part of the Rs 950 crore project to upgrade 19 stations on the Mumbai suburban railway.

Kotak was instrumental in getting the Ghatkopar railway station plan approved from Railway Minister Piyush Goyal at a public function after the first mid-day report about it in August 2019.

He said the congestion problem at Ghatkopar due to the Mumbai Metro station needed a permanent solution and the elevated deck and an upgraded Ghatkopar suburban station was the answer. The Ghatkopar station is getting a massive upgrade with three new 12-metre foot bridges, all linked by an elevated deck, an additional skywalk along the road and seamless connectivity for passenger movement.

mid-day had highlighted in a front-page report in its August 30, 2019 edition ‘Next Disaster Arriving on Platform No.1' how Ghatkopar station had become a death trap. Work could have begun earlier but there have been issues due to lack of space for construction at the busy Ghatkopar station. Railway officials said they intended to use hi-tech European piling machines at Ghatkopar to speed up the work as lack of physical space for construction was one of the key problems there with limited head room.