In a major capacity-augmentation move, Western Railway has drawn up plans worth Rs 70 crore to expand Dadar station into a bigger midtown terminus, creating space for more express trains and easing pressure on Mumbai Central. The proposal includes new lines, extended platforms, yard rearrangement, and significant overhead equipment (OHE) and signalling upgrades, marking the most ambitious remodelling of Dadar in decades. The new plans will integrate the station with the fifth and sixth lines, which aim to segregate mail express and suburban trains.

Dadar already handles platform-return express trains — services that arrive and depart from the same platform. At present, the station has only two terminal lines, from which nine platform-return trains are operated daily. With the sixth line project absorbing one of these terminal tracks, railway planners say the system will soon hit a bottleneck. “With additional platform-return services planned — at least eight more — the existing arrangement would become unmanageable,” a senior WR official said. “The new Line No 8 is essential to sustain future traffic.”