Central Railway’s Mumbai boss promises complete Matheran line soon, says his priorities include cutting down track deaths and cleaner toilets at stations
Rajnish Kumar Goyal, CR Mumbai’s divisional manager, interacts with commuters
The Mumbai divisions of the Central and Western railways have got new bosses. In his first address, Rajnish Kumar Goyal, CR Mumbai’s divisional manager, promised the resumption of services on the entire Neral-Matheran route “very soon”. He also visited railway stations. His WR peer Niraj Verma inspected Churchgate station and passenger facilities.
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Niraj Verma, WR Mumbai’s divisional manager, at Churchgate station
“We will be opening the complete stretch of Neral-Matheran railway very soon,” said Goyal, a 1991-batch officer of the Indian Railway Service of Electrical Engineers, promising cleaner public toilets among many other passenger amenities. At the same time, he sought equal cooperation from the railways. Goyal said his priority in Mumbai will be to cut down railway-related deaths. Verma, a 1994-batch officer of Indian Railway Traffic Services, is yet to list his priorities.
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The Neral-Matheran line has been running intermittently since the turn of the century due to heavy rainfall in the area. It suffered extensive damages in June 2019 and has remained shut since then. A small stretch between Aman Lodge and Matheran has been restored. Officials said work is underway to fix the entire route. The line was built in 1907 as a family enterprise of the Peerbhoys and is now on the UNESCO tentative list for Mountain Railways of India.