...as an 18-hour mega block is scheduled this Sunday for work on the long awaited 5th and 6th lines between Thane and Diva to progress
Commissioner of Railway Safety Manoj Arora (Central Circle) inspected the complete section from Diva to Thane, right down to nuts and bolts under the bridges before authorising the linking of tracks
Tests and trials have been cleared by the railways, and now, the public must tolerate an 18-hour mega block, for the Thane-Diva 5th and 6th lines on Sunday. In D-Day for the Diva-Thane rail project which is delayed by 12 years, the Commissioner of Railway Safety Manoj Arora (Central Circle) on Friday meticulously inspected the complete section from Diva to Thane, and authorised the go ahead for “cut and connection work” to complete the final linking work of the tracks.
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This means that on Sunday, when the work will be done, there will be an 18-hour block with no trains available at Kalwa and Mumbra stations through the day with the Central Railway arranging about 200 buses for commuters. On Monday morning, trains will be able to take a small stretch of the new lines.
Detailed inspection
Walking the entire 9.4-km stretch of new lines from Diva to Thane, Arora, accompanied by the complete team of Central Railway Mumbai division heads of departments, engineers and officers of the Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation (MRVC), on Friday meticulously checked every single aspect, right down to nuts and bolts under the bridges, and even measured curves and track alignments.
Starting at 9:30 am with a pooja and inauguration at the new signal and telecommunication building, Arora inspected crossing points, bridges over the creek, even at times going under them to verify drawings, new station platforms, the curves, flyover and track dimensions. Arora appreciated the work done by the MRVC team, which completed it in difficult terrain overcoming multiple hurdles.
No trains
The difficult part for commuters will be on Sunday when the actual linking of tracks happens. An 18-hour block has been planned from 8am to 2am and no trains will be available at Kalwa and Mumbra stations. Commuters boarding from Kopar and Thakurli stations are advised to board trains from Dombivli and Kalyan respectively as slow trains will not be available. About 160 local trains and nearly 20 mail/express trains will remain cancelled to facilitate the work.
“The railway administration has arranged to run buses in coordination with Thane and Kalyan-Dombivli Transport undertakings for the benefit of passengers,” a CR spokesperson said. On Monday morning, a small stretch between Kalwa and Mumbra will be made functional for use of new lines with temporary linking. The new lines will be made operational part-by-part.
New stations, new amenities
Kalwa: Though the new Kalwa station platform will not open up immediately, it has all the amenities ready with escalators and a huge parking lot. The platform also has direct access to the road. The new platforms will be fast train platforms and the older ones will remain for slow corridor.
Mumbra: The new platform on the curve has new state-of-the-art foot overbridges though escalators are missing at present. The new platforms will cater to slow trains and the older ones will get converted into fast ones.
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