Western Railways (WR)’s Mumbai division has decided to revamp Kandivali and Mira Road stations, reports stated.
As per the plan drawn up by the Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation (MRVC), tenders for the development of these stations have already been awarded. The redeveloped stations will have wider foot over bridges, more escalators, lifts and wider platforms.
The MRVC has set a three-year deadline to redevelop the stations at the cost of INR 125 crore, as part of its larger project to redesign 18 railway stations of Mumbai Suburban section.
Under this, the MRVC will be improving stations, constructing FOBs, elevated decks, interconnecting with FOBs and skywalks, developing green spaces and other improvements as part of Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP)-3A.
Railway officials stated that they will also be including the smaller stations which see lesser footfall and that needs an upgrade. The revamp was long overdue, as most of the 119 stations on Mumbai’s suburban network are over 80-year-old. In the entire Mumbai Metropolitan Region, only Navi Mumbai has stations that can be classified as somewhat user-friendly.
When asked whether a three-year deadline to revamp both the stations is reasonable, a senior railway official said that the process of revamping both the stations are already started, completion of the project depends on the availability of funds.
“Considering the super dense crush load we witness at Mumbai stations, the revamp of this magnitude is a Herculean task. We’ll get barely a few hours to work when the trains are not operational at night. We’ll work within these limitations,” officials told media.
It is pertinent to mention that both stations are considered the busiest stations of the suburban section. Kandivali station having daily footfalls of more than 1.5 lakh daily handles nearly six hundred local trains. Similarly, Mira Road station having daily footfalls of 1.15 lakh daily handling nearly 550 local trains.
Works planned at Mira Road
Widening of platform No. 1
220x11m deck over platform No. 1
22m wide FOB on the north-end
20m wide FOB in the middle
Elevated booking office
Works planned Kandivali
New station building
Widening of platform No. 1
220x11m deck over platform No. 1
Extension of North end FOB to the east side
Widening of middle FOB