Mumbai: Ghatkopar station upgrade can proceed full steam ahead

Work to upgrade Ghatkopar railway station is on in full swing. Pic/Rajendra B. Aklekar

With funds allocated to the Mumbai Urban Transport 3A project, the upgrade of Ghatkopar railway station, initiated by mid-day and pursued by the Member of Parliament from Mumbai North East, Manoj Kotak, is on its way.

"Work has begun on Ghatkopar station and is going on at a good pace. It will help decongest the station in a big way. Phase one of the station in the east is expected to be completed later this year. The funding of the next phase of the work of Ghatkopar station is also in place so now the work will not be affected in any way. This completes the formalities of the upgrade of Ghatkopar station and work will proceed," Kotak told mid-day. Central Railway (CR) had a meeting with Members of Parliament to take stock of various railway projects and amenities.

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"Mumbai North East constituency is the only seat from where a maximum number of Amrit Bharat stations have been announced - Vidyavihar, Vikhroli and Kanjurmarg - and the Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation (MRVC) is independently further upgrading six stations - Ghatkopar, Vikhroli, Bhandup, Mulund, Govandi and Mankhurd," he said.

Following a mid-day report on the mega crowd at Ghatkopar, MRVC officials said at Ghatkopar, the Railways were constructing a 75-m-long and 12-m-wide footover bridge and a 45-m-long east deck under trespass control works of MUTP-3. In the overall plan, the seven-point upgrade with three new 12-m-high foot bridges, has 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. Following this, Kotak followed up the issue with the then-Railway Minister Piyush Goyal. Goyal, at a public function on September 13, 2019, had directed railway officials to come up with an elaborate plan and upgrade the station. The work is being done by MRVC.