Mumbai: What happened to the Ghatkopar station upgrade?

Ghatkopar railway station on Friday. Pic/Rajendra B. Aklekar

As Ghatkopar station witnesses crowding every morning, commuters ask where's the promised station upgrade announced by former Railway Minister Piyush Goyal. The plan was to decongest the central 12-metre bridge but only the Kalyan end of the station has been upgraded.

In the morning, the crowding at Ghatkopar is due to the Mumbai Metro queues and in the evening, the crowding during peak rush hour is due to two AC locals (Dombivli and Kalyan) timetabled back to back, leading to the swelling of crowds waiting for non-AC locals on platform one," Ghatkopar commuter Avinash Doshi said.

Scenes from Ghatkopar railway station on Friday. Pics/Rajendra B. Aklekar

"The station works at Ghatkopar have been going on for a long time now. The station is better compared to last year and a major portion of the roof is covered now, but there are gaps in the roof, scattered wiring and barricades. Both escalators of the bridge at the east side are closed and covered up," another commuter Reha Gala said.

Amol More, a commuter, said, "The authorities should work at night and try and finish as much as possible as the crowd is thin at that time. We are just waiting for the work to be completed."

Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation (MRVC) officials said there was no delay and that work was happening in every corner of the station. Given there's so much crowding and traffic at the station, it is challenging to work safely, but still, it has been expedited. "The GR (government resolution) for the project itself came out in April 2023 and the works of phase one are already complete in just over a year. The works closer to Mumbai Metro station fall under phase two of the project and had already begun but will gather pace after monsoon," said an official.

Sources said the original delay happened as the funding for MUTP projects had been suspended by the earlier state government, which staggered the project at a crucial stage.

Important junction

Ghatkopar has been an important junction station as it sees a large number of footfall due to the integration of Mumbai Metro Line 1 at the same station. Ghatkopar station sees an average footfall of about 3.87 lakh commuters per day and witnesses extreme crowding during rush hours. There was a stampede-like situation at the station last month when the Mumbai Metro had been shut during the evening rush hours, citing security reasons for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's roadshow at Ghatkopar.

mid-day had highlighted in a front-page report in its August 30, 2019 edition how Ghatkopar station had become a death trap. Following this, former local Member of Parliament from Mumbai North East Manoj Kotak followed up on the issue with the Goyal. The then-railway minister at a public function on September 13, 2019, directed railway officials to come up with an elaborate plan and upgrade the station. Five years on, works on phase one have been partially completed with escalators still under work, but the crucial crowded part of the station remains the same. The work is being done by the MRVC.