Railways nod for another platform at Parel

The railway station of the city's latest business district just got an upgrade.

To accommodate the teeming crowd thanks to the increasing number of offices opening shop in Parel, the ministry of railways have approved an additional platform for Parel station.

The additional platform will be connected to the foot overbridge and decongest the existing bridge.

"There have been many complaints about the crowd and it is difficult to approach the bridge during the peak hours. The foot overbridge is urgently required here," said Sanjay P. Ghavate, an activist.

Commuters have been complaining to the Central Railway about massive crowds at Parel station and the inability to use the jam-packed foot overbridge forcing them to cross the tracks.

The Central Railway had forwarded the complaint to the ministry, which has proposed a double discharge platform at Parel to accommodate the crowd. This means that trains coming from Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus will have platforms on both sides.

Besides being the new business district, Parel also has the highest number of hospitals — around seven including Tata, KEM and Wadia hospitals.

"In the mornings, you can see many patients struggling to walk on this narrow bridge," said Ghavate, who has collected more than 3,000 signatures to highlight the issue.

Central Railway  chief spokesperson Vidyadhar Malegaonkar confirmed the development, but said it would take time for the work to begin.

"The proposal is in the planning stage and designs are being made," he said.