Mumbai: Commuters cry foul over Asangaon rly stn's new foot over bridge

The old foot-over-bridge at Asangaon

A new foot-over-bridge (FOB) built at the Asangaon railway station after dismantling the old one has become more of a trouble for daily commuters than a convenience. Not only is the new bridge at a distance from the main access (entry/exit) point, it also doesn't land on the road. In an audit of railway bridges conducted in 2017, mid-day had pointed out the same issues but there has been no change of plan. Commuters have sent a petition to the Central Railway (CR) saying that a new bridge should be built exactly at the spot of the old one.

"It is completely unfair. The new bridge has been built at a distance from the original one, which was there for over a century. This has led to a shift in crowd patterns and even the main entry/exit point, where the auto stand and access gate are, is far away from the new bridge," a commuter said.

The remains of the old bridge nearby

Passenger activist Umesh Vishe, who has written the petition, said, "The new bridge has been built without any planning. They pulled down a bridge and built a new one just to compensate for it. It is very high and not connected. The bridge and the town's centre are at two different places. We have appealed to the railways to set things right and build a new one exactly at the place of the old one."

"The sad part is that they have still kept the remains of the old bridge on the road, further inconveniencing commuters and pedestrians. We, as Kalyan-Kasara Railway Passengers' Welfare Association, handed over a letter to the Central Railway (CR) general manager's office in October, but there has been no action," he added.

CR chief public relations officer Shivaji Sutar said that work on expansion of new railway lines was underway and the layout of the station was likely to change. "The new FOB has been built as part of the new plan and will be in sync with the layout once it takes shape. The FOB at the centre connecting east to west is six metres wide and just 60 metres away from the new one," he added.

At present there are just two lines at the Asangaon station on which express, goods and suburban trains run. The third line between Kalyan-Kasara has been sanctioned and work is being executed by the CR. Construction of a fourth line up to Asangaon will provide proper suburban connectivity to the upcoming section, which is home to millions of Mumbaikars. The Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation has been entrusted with the task of laying a fourth line between the 32-km stretch of Kalyan and Asangaon as part of the Mumbai Urban Transport Project 3A at a cost of Rs 1,759 crore.

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