Mumbai: Work to expand 5th-6th line beyond Vidyavihar picks pace

Concrete sleepers brought for the 5th and 6th line work at Kurla

After much delay, the work to extend the 5th and 6th rail lines beyond Vidyavihar towards Kurla has started. The extension is a part of the Kurla-Parel new lines that are being developed to segregate the suburban corridor from long-distance trains. For this, the Sion rail overbridge will be rebuilt to create more space for the additional two lines, said an official.

"Work on the 10.1 km between Kurla and Parel has begun on the ground at several patches wherever land is available. For example, at Kurla and Sion stations, works are at advanced stages of completion for segregating the line. What remains is land procurement from third parties and rebuilding of roads and rail bridges passing over the existing lines to accommodate two new lines," a top railway official said. "The first major thing to be soon taken up will be replacement of the Sion road overbridge. The bridge will be shut for traffic, it will need to be rebuilt to accommodate two new lines below it," he said.

The harbour line platforms at Kurla will be shifted to an elevated level and the existing harbour line tracks will be converted into the 5th and 6th lines, said the official. "The land acquisition process at Swadeshi Mill and Dharavi was underway in close coordination with the state authorities. In addition to the mill land, there were private party land and BMC land to be procured for this," he explained. The 5th and 6th lines that start from Kalyan and end at Vidyavihar are being extended to Kurla and obstructions along the way are being cleared, said the official.

On land acquisition, another senior official said, "Recently, CR has completed the 5th and 6th lines between Thane and Diva which has helped in introducing 36 additional suburban services. The 5th and 6th lines between Kurla and CSMT will be completed in two phases i.e. Kurla-Parel and Parel-CSMT. The Kurla-Parel phase is at an advanced stage."

The official added, "Of the 10,061 sq metre land to be acquired, approval has been obtained for 2,656 sq metres of National Textile Corporation land and it is in the process of transfer to the railways. The remaining land acquisition is at various stages of progress and we plan to complete it by December 2022. Our construction officers are also holding coordination meetings with stakeholders to expedite the land acquisition." Included in the World Bank-funded Mumbai Urban Transport Project-2 in 2009-10, the project was sanctioned in 2014 at a cost of Rs 891 crore.

Rs 891cr
Cost of the project