New Seawoods station is ready, but maintenance issue hangs fire

Though all the work on this Harbour line station in Navi Mumbai has been completed, CIDCO and Central Railway are yet to decide on who will look after the maintenance of the new facility

The new Seawoods railway station on the harbour line of Navi Mumbai will be opened for commuters by mid-December. Sources in the railways revealed that all the required electrical related alignment and the tracks are in place. However, CIDCO and Central Railway are yet to decide on who will look after the maintenance of the new station.

The issue of station maintenance is not new. CIDCO and the railways have been passing the buck to each other ever since CIDCO made an announcement last year that it cannot look after the station maintenance of the Harbour line in Navi Mumbai. It wanted to hand over the task to the railways. Officials from the railways claim that it is CIDCO’s responsibility to look after the station maintenance, while the town-planning agency says that it is the railways that should maintain the station.

Plans on track: The new Seawoods station is seen on the right. All the electrical and civil work has been completed at this facility

Earlier, speaking to mid-day, both CIDCO and the railways had passed the responsibility of station maintenance to each other.

Mission completed
The existing old tracks between Nerul-Seawoods-Belapur would be aligned to the new line starting at both ends of Seawoods station. “All the electrical and civil work has been completed. However, the project is awaiting approval from the safety commissioner of the railways. We are pursuing the matter and hope to get trains on the new stations by December,” said an engineer from the railways.

The new station will have discharge facility from both sides, ramps for handicapped people and toilets. The new station has been constructed to replace the old one that does not have adequate amenities. In 2008, CIDCO had awarded L&T Infrastructure the contract to construct the new station as part of the company’s Seawoods station complex project. However, delays in the project extended the deadline till this year. Apart from the station, L&T Realty is constructing an integrated commercial complex spread over 40 acres that would have commercial office space of international standards.

It is also said that the old Seawoods station would be converted into a mini-terminus where local trains can halt, as Seawoods will act as an important junction to link Mumbai and Navi Mumbai with Uran as part of the proposed.

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