Western Railway embarks on expansion project for Bandra Railway Terminus

Western Railway has embarked on an expansion project for the Bandra Railway Terminus, which has an earmarked outlay of Rs 25 crore. The expansion project is a direct result of the effective measures adopted by the Maharashtra government to clear encroachments on railway property in and around the vicinity of the Bandra Terminus.

Western Railway General Manager V D Gupta told mumbaibest.com that the expansion of Bandra Terminus was necessary to meet the growing increase in railway traffic. ``This expansion project was stalled for many years, because of encroachments and resistance from the squatters illegally occupying railway property. Now that the Maharashtra government has evicted the encroachers, Western Railway's expansion plans will finally materialise,'' said Gupta.

However, Gupta pleaded helplessness about providing a pucca approach road linking the Bandra Terminus with the Western Express Highway, which is separated by a distance of around 500 metres. ``The approach road does not fall within the jurisdiction of the railways. It is the responsibility of the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation and the Maharashtra government, to construct a proper approach road. To avoid problems caused by the quality of the approach road at Bandra, we have been halting all long distance trains at Andheri, which is connected to a well serviced road network''.

Spelling out the projects on the high-priority list of Western Railway, Gupta said that gauge conversion work is in the advanced stages in Gujarat and Rajasthan and the Churchgate-Virar AC-DC traction conversion work was going on in full swing, besides the work on the laying of the fifth track between Borivali and Santacruz which is simultaneously going on at a fast pace.

Gupta, while listing a series of measures initiated by the railways to turn Western Railway into a commuter friendly service, claimed that during the last 3 years, Western Railway's output of transportation of goods increased from 29 million tonnes to 38 million tonnes. Gupta also talked about the information facility on telephone that the railways provide. "One can get updated information on every train by dialing 132. This telephone dialing access gives the commuter information on the train's position half an hour prior to the phone call.''

Gupta, stressed on the issue of squatters creating hurdles for the railways by dumping waste along the tracks. Annually, Western Railway clears 25,000 truckloads of garbage dumped along railway tracks. `` Western Railway is also concerned about the number of people being run over by trains and especially at railway crossings. Annually around 1000 people are run over by trains at level crossings. Therefore we have put up an offer to the state government that we will bear 50 per cent of the cost of construction of overhead bridges at all the railway level crossings in the Western Railway suburban route,'' said Gupta.

By : Mani D'Mello

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