Mumbai: First rubberised road to come up in Virar

A rubberised road at a level crossing in Nagpur

Western Railway's Mumbai division is getting its first rubberised roads at level crossings and it is expected to be built in Virar. This may not just give a comfortable ride to motorists, but also lead to easier maintenance and faster dispersal of road traffic along the stretch.

"The regular roads along the level crossings are usually prone to potholes, which slows down the traffic and eventually leads to delay in closing time of the level crossing gate. Also, rail tracks at level crossings need additional maintenance. A rubber road will make maintenance easier and give a comfortable ride to motorists," a senior divisional official said.

Flexible, skid resistant

He said these roads will be made of multiple sets of rubber pads measuring 1.2 metre each. Each set consists of two rubber pads placed inside and two outside of the running rail. As per the government guidelines, the rubberised roads are expected to be flexible enough to absorb the shocks of rail as well as road vehicles, should be fire and skid resistant, should not crack/splinter/crumble and be tolerant of temperature variations and possess high electrical resistivity.

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Currently, the project is being initiated near Valsad and Vapi, and subsequently, it will be taken up near Virar on the Mumbai suburban section, said WR chief public relations officer Sumit Thakur.

Former member of WR Zonal Users' Consultative Committee Shailesh Goyal welcomed said it will be a boon for motorists as well as railways. "Rubberised roads will make journey at level crossings easier, and should be adopted across Indian Railways."

More trains from Sept 21

To meet the rising demand, the Ministry of Railways has decided to run 20 pairs of 'Clone' special trains from September 21, including one from Bandra to Amritsar. These Clone trains, being run in addition to the existing special trains, will run on notified timings and be fully reserved. The stoppages shall be limited to operational halts, and the advanced reservation period will be 10 days.

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