Railways can't go against the tide to build bridge at Diva and Thane

Work is on to build platforms at Mumbra station

The movement of tides is an important factor in the construction of the 5th and 6th lines between Diva and Thane, as the work enters a crucial phase. Truck movement to build the bridge can only be done during low tide, and this affects work.

"The railway project involves building a bridge on the creek at Mumbra on the south side of the station. The water levels vary as per tide, so engineers need to be very careful when and how to continue work, and allow truck movement for moving debris etc. Firstly, the soil is soft and it leads to sinking, and secondly if a truck enters at the time of high tide, it could sink. A truck had sunk in October 2018," a senior railway official said. The Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation is building the line.

'Work must sync with tides'

"Work is currently on to build the foundations of the bridge in the creek and involves supplying raw material and removing debris, for which movement of lorries is essential. The work has to sync with the tides to proceed," a senior official said. The line promises to decongest the Central Railway in a big way.

"The bridge is among the last big works remaining to be completed in the section. The bridges at the creeks in Thane and in the north side of Mumbra station are already in place. We are confident of completing the bridge work by 2019," he said.

The work on the creek bridge is being done simultaneously with that of the new Mumbra station platforms, and their alignment that passes to the west of the existing station. The alignment continues towards the creek where the bridge is now being built. The bridge involves constructing a two-way rail alignment that will pass over the creek between Mumbra and Kalwa stations, crossing over the existing slow lines.

Crucial project for CR

The project, which was sanctioned in 2008, is part of Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP 2B), and is crucial for the Central Railway (CR), as it will be a key factor in segregating the outstation and local rail corridors and thus improve the speed/frequency of trains. The first deadline was December 2015, which was later revised to December 2017, then to March 2019 and now mid-2019.

The delays were due to various reasons such as the tunnel alignment went wrong and Project Affected Persons were not rehabilitated in time. As a result, the cost has escalated from about Rs 130 crore to Rs 440 crore.

Currently, there are six railway lines between Kalyan and Diva, and Kurla Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (LTT) and Thane. However, between Thane and Diva, there are only four lines, which results in congestion and crossing of outstation trains. Once this is complete, there could be complete segregation of lines used by local and outstation trains between Kurla-LTT and Kalyan, which is important to improve the speed and frequency of suburban trains and make the journey slightly better.

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