On Saturday the central railway has fast-paced a new bridge along the historic Thane creek bridge to extend the newly-opened fifth and sixth lines.
Even as the railways celebrate 158 years of the first train run in the country, on Saturday, the Central Railway has fast-paced a new bridge along the historic Thane creek bridge to extend the newly-opened fifth and sixth lines.
“The bridge for the new lines between Thane and Diva is almost ready as most of the foundations are in place. It is important to connect the fifth and sixth lines between Kurla and Thane to those between Kalyan and Diva so that there is seamless travel between Kurla and Kalyan for outstation trains,” CR spokesperson Ashok Kumar Singh said.
He said with the major work on the bridge in place, the only important engineering work remaining is tunnelling. “The lines are being laid along the slow corridor and tunnelling work along this side of the mountain is lesser,” he added.
There are six pairs of lines between Kalyan and Diva and Thane and Kurla. The railways are now filling the gap between Diva and Thane under the World Bank-funded Mumbai Urban Transport Project.
The first train had run between Bori Bunder (now CST) and Tannah (now Thane) on April 16, 1853, at 3.35pm after a 21-gun salute. Though the journey ended at Thane, work on the bridge had already been complete on its way to Kalyan.
The Thane creek bridge has been historically linked to the opening of the first railway line in the country and the famous sepia-toned photograph of a 14-coach steam engine pulled-train is quite famous.
“The bridge has been expanded and upgraded several times, but this is the first time that any construction has taken place on its east side. The original bridge will now be flanked with parallel bridges on both sides,” a senior official said.
The Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation that is coordinating the project said that it will have to bore through the Parsik Hills and build viaducts similar to the existing ones over the Thane creek bridge. The proposed tunnel will be about 165 metres long and 13 metres wide. The original line was built by the British in 1853.
A senior official said, “The slow line will have an additional pair of rails so that the existing fast train tracks can be exclusively used by outstation and goods trains. The new tunnel will be adjacent to the old one between Mumbra and Kalwa.”
Currently, the slow trains take a detour along the Parsik Hills, while the fast trains take the Parsik tunnel route skipping Kalwa and Mumbra stations. Both lines separate before Kalwa and meet few metres before Diva.
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