Mumbai
The phase-II of the Mumbai Urban Transport Project will undertake a $0.5 million study to get the stations in Mumbai at par with any global railway station.
Updated : Mar 27, 2011, 10:14 PM IST
The 133 suburban stations in Mumbai are set for a makeover. The phase-II of the Mumbai Urban Transport Project will undertake a $0.5 million study to get the stations in Mumbai at par with any global railway station. The World Bank-funded technical assessment study is a part of the MUTP-2A with a September 2013 deadline.
A senior official associated with the project said that there are 36 suburban stations along the city’s Western line from Churchgate to Dahanu and about 97 on the Central line. The stations are presently divided into categories like A-1, A, B to F as per railway board guidelines which are allotted according to passenger crowd and usage.
“Most of these stations have public amenities like train information systems, clocks, audio announcements, signages. But in the present system, things are disorganised with each technical amenity requiring separate operation and control, wiring and other features. Also the station signage for passenger guidance is not up to international standards,” the project document states.
“The station and platform area illumination, including concourse at major stations, also needs to be upgraded, keeping in mind the optimum level of illumination to meet both aesthetic and energy saving requirements,” it adds.
“For video surveillance of station entrances and exits from security point of view, an integrated system needs to be designed with both central and remote video surveillance monitoring features,” it adds.
The study will identify the deficiencies in the existing system and taking into consideration the experience of comparable foreign suburban rail systems, will recommend an integrated state-of-the-art passenger information and guidance, station and platform area illumination and security surveillance system. It would then prepare technical specifications and cost estimate for the recommended solution.
While the MUTP-A project includes several crucial projects, including conversion of the railway system from direct current (DC) to alternate current (AC) between Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) to Thane and CST to Mankhurd, construction of new stabling lines an extension of few existing lines and procuring additional train sets, MUTP-B will look at building additional capacity.