Harbouring good news for railway commuters, railway officials claim that the ambitious plan to build an elevated Harbour line station at Kurla is shaping up well. Officials in the know told dna that tenders for various works for building the station — with three lines — should be ready in a month.
Harbouring good news for railway commuters, railway officials claim that the ambitious plan to build an elevated Harbour line station at Kurla is shaping up well. Officials in the know told dna that tenders for various works for building the station — with three lines — should be ready in a month.
What does the plan entail?
The plan calls for the creation of a rail flyover starting from the north of Chunabhatti station to the south of Tilaknagar station with a three-line Harbour station right above the current platforms 7 and 8. To be built on stilts, the elevated station would allow goods trains to move on the tracks at ground level while Harbour line trains 'fly' over them.
How much would it cost?
The elevated station project is estimated to cost around Rs70 crore.
Project to cut waiting time for trains
According to officials, the need for this elevated Kurla Harbour line station is now even more acute, because in five years the number of freight trains running through Kurla station will increase manifold.
Currently, Harbour line trains wait for as long as 15 minutes as an extra long goods train carrying coal or fuel crosses the lines to get onto the fast track to move towards Thane and beyond.
Cargo trains traffic to worsen
While the situation is bad enough now, it threatens to get far worse once the Rs107 crore third line, being built by Mumbai Port Trust, CR and MMRDA jointly for freight trains, comes up between Wadala and Kurla. This third line will bring in more goods wagons because the Mumbai Port Trust wants to transport coal coming into its port quickly and in larger quantities. Officials say the number of goods trains, once this third line comes up, will be far more than the 15 to 20 that move through Kurla now.
Officials feel elevated line 'imperative'
"Harbour line is growing rapidly at 9.22 per cent and is expected to sustain this kind of pace for several years now. At the same time, the number of goods trains will go up in the future because of the money they bring in. So, this goods train and suburban local tangle could create law and order problems as commuter traffic keeps growing. So, starting the elevated Kurla Harbour line is imperative," said an official
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