Mumbai: Sion station to shift west, make way for two new lines

Construction work of the new foot overbridge going on at platform number 1 of Sion railway station. Pics/Bipin Kokate

In a move that would have long-term implications on rail traffic, the existing Sion railway station of Central Railway, one of the oldest stations on the country's oldest lines, is being worked on to be shifted a bit westwards to accommodate the new rail line expansion plan adding a new home platform and a circulating area. A similar plan has been made for Matunga station.

The implications include that the new Sion station will not just move a bit closer to the arterial LBS Road, but it will also help add two new lines to segregate suburban and mail/express trains as a part of the fifth and sixth lines between Kalyan and Parel.

The idea is to demolish the existing fast platform which is not in use and use the space to build a new corridor of two lines. Sources said the shift could also possibly help tide over the age-old problem of flooding at Sion with wider drains and more open space.

An east-west foot over bridge is being constructed on the north end at Sion station

The last time similar changes were done was at a new platform was added similarly was at Parel a few years ago and in the 1990s at Dadar, shifting platform one westwards to create a terminus for Dadar locals.

While a new rail platform will come just abutting the arterial LBS Road, the existing platform one will be converted into an island platform. This will move the entire station premise to the west side by a few metres due to the new alignment.

The next step after this would be to demolish the existing platform four to make way for two new rail lines- 5th and 6th line between Kurla and Parel. A new outstation terminus station has been proposed at Parel, at the site of the existing workshop where these lines will merge.

Officials said work was completed by about 40pc. "At present, three works are going on at Sion. One includes building east to the west big footbridge at the north end. Another includes the extension of the existing platform at the same side to accommodate the landing staircase of this new footbridge and the third and crucial work includes the construction of a new platform which will make the existing platform one into an island platform," a senior official said.

CR has planned the fifth and sixth lines between LTT-Thane and Diva-Kalyan. The Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation (MRVC) is carrying out work for laying these two lines between Diva-Thane. The fifth and sixth lines are part of Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP-II) so that capacity can be augmented to run more suburban trains. The cost of the fifth and sixth lines between CSMT and Kurla, which requires land acquisition, is around 920 crore at 2016 rates.

"This work is a part of the 5th and 6th line. The existing platform would be converted into an island platform, extended," Shivaji Sutar, chief public relations officer told Mid-Day.

Another official added that while work on the bridge will be ready by year-end, the work on the line till Parel should be ready by 2021 if all the things go as per plans.

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