After several missed deadlines, Western Railway (WR) achieved the June 30 target to complete the quadrupling work between Borivili and Virar.
Western Railway completed quadrupling work by the June 30 deadline; Lalu Prasad will inaugurate the two new tracks by flagging off Millennium Rake on Saturday
After several missed deadlines, Western Railway (WR) achieved the June 30 target to complete the quadrupling work between Borivili and Virar. Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav has been invited to inaugurate the two new lines.
The inauguration will be held at Borivili railway station on July 7, when Yadav will flag-off the Millennium Rake (one of WR’s own creations). The Millennium Rake was designed and made at the Mahalaxmi Workshop, where repairs and maintenance of coaches takes place periodically. With this, travel woes of thousands of commuters beyond the suburb of Borivili will finally end.
The two new lines were proposed in early 1990. “It means it took 17 long years for the Railways to materialise this plan. It was only after the Bombay High Court imposed the deadline that work was completed within months,” said Siddhartha Chitnis, a resident of Virar.
The Railways, however, have an explanation. A senior WR official said, “We had started the quadrupling work without inconveniencing commuters as far as possible. It was only when we reached near Dahisar that problems arose. As the tracks were encroached by slum dwellers who were not ready to move to rehabilitation sites, work got stalled.”
Thousands of residents from places beyond Borivili - Dahisar, Mira Road and Bhayander - had called for several agitations and campaigns to protest the delay in completion of work.
Divisional Railway Manager of WR Satya Prakash said, “After the successful trial-run of a goods train and the subsequent examination by the Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS), WR will start the services on receipt of a safety certificate.”
He said that WR would operate 20 new services. This will include two services between Churchgate and Virar, five services between Bandra and Virar, seven between Andheri and Virar, two between Andheri and Vasai and four between Borivli and Virar. “Many more services can be added once new trains arrive under the Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP-I),” he said.
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