No clarity on Dadar in Rs 900 crore Kurla-CST project

The railway ministry may have cleared the Rs900-crore plan to create new rail lines between Kurla and CST, but what's still not clear is whether the plan to make some changes to the western fringe of Central Railway's Dadar station will be a part of it.

While the Kurla elevated harbour line and Parel terminus are the two big-ticket parts of the Kurla-CST plan, there is also a component — though still at a nascent stage of the project — which will see the creation of a new platform at

Dadar, so that the congestion of platform number 1/2 is mitigated.

The present scenario...

Currently, as slow trains come on to platform number one from Parel to move forward on its onward journey, and trains terminating at Dadar come on platform number 2, the crowds that rush out of both trains are the highest anywhere in the country's railway network. The platform is narrower than the normal ones.

According to officials, it can take more than twenty minutes for the crowds to clear. Some even call it 'an almost stampede like situation' during morning and evening rush hours.

What the plan proposes

The plan involves creating a platform on the western side of track number one. Currently, this stretch of land is dotted with railway union and smaller railway offices. "This platform, what we call a home platform, can be accessed by people to alight on both sides from a local coming into Dadar from CST. This will majorly bring down the rush when trains come in both on track one and two," said an official.

Access by road

Moreover, the platform can also be accessed from the road that marks the boundary between WR and CR's ownership of Dadar. This road runs all the way from Tilak Bridge on the north-end of Dadar and officials say it has space on either side to be widened as well.

What are the roadblocks?

However, there are hurdles. The land has union offices — which might be tough to remove — and also it is a bit of no-man's land with the ownership unclear between WR and CR. Moreover, the operations department of CR wants an extra line to be made on the western side of track one. This line, the operating department contends, will run straight into Matunga workshop and will allow long-distance trains parked at Parel yard straight into the workshop.

"Currently, trains parked at Parel yard have to be taken into the workshop for maintenance and repairs via track number 1. At times, it impedes the suburban system. However, if this line is made, then making a platform there would not be possible," said an official.