Central Railway (CR) is all set to begin the widening of platforms at the crowded Thane station for better crowd management with 60-hour-long rail blocks to facilitate the work. The dates for these blocks will be announced in a while, said railway authorities. Rail authorities have also undertaken work to decongest another platform at Dadar, after the widening of platform no. 1 and 2 on the CR section. The plan is to provide more space for passengers waiting to board trains on the crowded platforms while taking into account the space limitations. Hence stalls and other utilities are being removed.

“At present, platform no. 5/6 which caters to up and down fast suburban local trains and mail/express trains get extremely crowded due to long-distance train passengers waiting with their luggage on the platform. Thane being a junction also gets passengers from the trans-harbour Thane-Vashi/Panvel line, leading to more and more people pouring onto this island platform,” a CR spokesperson said.