Western Railway readies plan for new railway flyover to separate express, local lines

After two decades of dilly-dallying over the need to create a bigger railway flyover between Bandra and Khar to replace the one used by Harbour line local trains on the CST-Andheri route, the railways has finally decided to bite the bullet.

Last week, the construction department of the Western Railway (WR) readied a Rs35-crore plan for the new flyover, which will have its pillars spaced wider apart so that the much-needed sixth line can be laid underneath it.

The lack of an extra line that could be used to segregate long-distance trains from the four lines that run suburban trains has been WR's biggest operational headache. A high number of long-distance trains moving out of Mumbai during the evening peak hours and coming into Mumbai during the morning rush hour has been the main cause for delay of suburban locals.

The current flyover is built in such a way, said WR officials, that there is no place between the pillars to lay a set of new tracks. Acquiring land along the tracks on the eastern side between Bandra and Khar is also tough because of the presence of several encroachments and places of religious importance, like graveyards.

Officials did, however, admit that constructing a new flyover would mean massive disruptions on the CST-Andheri Harbour line. "It's possible that it could be closed for several weeks at a stretch, which will greatly inconvenience commuters. But it's something that needs to be done sooner rather than later," said a senior WR official.

Currently, WR runs its long-distance trains on a line called the Suburban Train Avoidance track — also called the fifth line — on which trains can run in both directions. "This line exists between Mumbai Central and Mahim and then from Santa Cruz to Borivli. The lack of this vital connector between Mahim and Santa Cruz means that in this stretch long-distance trains use suburban lines, creating huge problems. The laying of the fifth and sixth lines will help us run more suburban and long-distance trains," said an official.

At the moment, WR runs 65 pairs of long-distance trains every day from Mumbai Central, Dadar and Bandra Terminus and, during the summer and festival seasons, the numbers go up because of special trains that are run. "The aim is to segregate the suburban and long-distance lines completely. This flyover is going to go a long way towards achieving that goal," said the official.